Jun 24, 2008 9:47 am US/Pacific
Dellums: Oakland Violence "Tragic, Intolerable"
OAKLAND (BCN) ―
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums offered condolences Monday to families of the six victims killed in five shootings over the weekend.
"The bloodshed we experienced this weekend is both tragic and intolerable. It's an example of the sort of rage and disregard for human life that cannot be tolerated," Dellums said in a prepared statement.
Dellums said called the shootings a setback to the goal of bringing peace to the streets but said he is confident the city's current public safety strategy of "prevention, intervention, enforcement and sustainability" will be successful.
He said the city needs to stick to its plan of reaching full staffing on its police force and work to bring in more local, state and federal revenue to bolster efforts to quell violence.
Meanwhile, two more people were shot overnight in non-fatal shootings in the 1700 block of 11th Street and the 600 block of 26th Street.
Over the weekend, a Sunday evening shooting claimed the lives of Percy Brown, 52, and Mark Orviss, 36, both of Oakland.
Officers responded to the 6200 block of Bromley Avenue, near Seminary Avenue, shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday and found three victims.
Brown and Orviss were pronounced dead at the scene. The third victim was taken to a hospital and listed in critical condition, police said.
Earlier that day police were dispatched to a shooting that claimed the life of 29-year-old Oakland resident Armando Bocanegra.
That shooting happened shortly before 2:30 p.m. near East 17th Street and Seminary Avenue. Responding officers found Bocanegra inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to Highland Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A fourth person died in a shooting Saturday night near Lake Merritt.
That shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. when officers were called to the parking lot of a business in the 200 block of East 18th Street, where they found the victim bleeding.
That person, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene. A second victim in that shooting, located by police afterward at a local hospital, was treated and released.
Police had been busy earlier Saturday evening with another shooting that happened inside a business at Seminary Avenue and Foothill Boulevard around 7:50 p.m.
That victim, Matthew Thomas, 31, of San Leandro, was pronounced dead of his wounds at the business. A second victim in that shooting was found at a local hospital and was treated and released.
The wave of fatal shootings began Saturday afternoon when officers were dispatched to the 8900 block of MacArthur Boulevard shortly after 3:30 p.m. where they found a person in a vehicle with gunshot wounds.
That victim was pronounced dead at Highland Hospital. Police are withholding the victim's name pending notification of next of kin.
Dellums said that police have not connected the incidents, which he termed "senseless acts of violence," and investigators will continue to look into possible connections.
Dellums urged anyone with information regarding any of the weekend's incidents to contact the police Homicide Unit at (510) 238-3821.
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