Local News

OAKLAND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― A longtime Oakland newspaper journalist was shot to death Thursday in a brazen downtown Oakland attack that police believe was a deliberate hit.

Chauncey Bailey, 57, recently named editor of the Oakland Post and a former reporter for The Oakland Tribune, was gunned down in broad daylight on a city sidewalk about 7:30 a.m. while he was apparently walking to work, police said.

"This is disheartening," said Oakland Police spokesman Roland Holmgren, who knew Bailey from his coverage of City Hall as well as police matters and described him as "a very assertive person who spoke his mind and addressed controversial topics."

Witnesses said a man dressed in black clothing and wearing a mask approached Bailey, shot him multiple times and then fled on foot, according to Holmgren.

Bailey was shot in the 250 block of 14th Street near Alice Street, several blocks away from the Oakland Post's office at 405 14th St.

The shooting location is near the Alameda County courthouse at 13th and Oak streets. It is also near Lake Merritt, the Alameda County Administration Building, a large post office on 13th Street and a McDonald's restaurant at 14th and Jackson streets.

Witnesses to the shooting were cooperating in the investigation, but there are no suspects yet, police said. Holmgren said the weapon used was not a handgun, but he would not disclose the gun's caliber.

Police don't have a motive for the killing, but said it did not appear to be random. Holmgren said it's not clear whether the attack had anything to do with Bailey's journalism work, but investigators will be looking at that angle.

Holmgren also said police had no initial knowledge of any recent threats made against Bailey, although Alameda County Superior Court records show Bailey was granted a temporary restraining order four years ago against an ex-girlfriend, Polly McCray, whom he said was harassing and "stalking" him.

"All of those possibilities will have to be definitely explored and explored thoroughly," Holmgren said.

Bailey was a familiar fixture on the local news scene, working at the Tribune for more than a decade before leaving the newspaper in 2003. The veteran journalist had also worked at other area Bay Area media outlets, including KDIA-AM radio and cable channel Soul Beat TV. Before that, he worked for 10 years at the Detroit News.

In June, Bailey was named editor of the Post, a weekly publication geared toward serving the Bay Area's black community.

Gwendolyn Carter, the Post's advertising manager, who came to the shooting scene, said simply, "Chauncey was a great man."

Other tributes to the slain journalist poured in Thursday from prominent politicians as well as from his colleagues in the news business.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said Bailey would be missed, calling his death "a huge loss for all of Oakland."

"It is a tragedy when any person loses his or her life by an act of violence. The crime and violence on Oakland streets presents me with the most painful and difficult challenge I've ever faced," Dellums said. "We should all be able to move through our lives on the streets of Oakland in peace and safety. We are all diminished by the loss of any one of us."

Dellums added, "Chauncey will be missed. He was at every media event and he always asked the first question. His questions were thoughtful and you knew that he sought to truly inform the public."

Tribune managing editor Martin Reynolds, called Bailey a "a friend, a valued colleague and a loving father," whose coverage of Oakland's black community was "a tremendous asset" to his newspaper.

Reynolds said he saw Bailey only last week wearing his trademark suit and tie and "we chatted as we always did when we saw each other, and I congratulated him again on being named editor of the Post."

Bailey's death, "has left all of us at the Oakland Tribune shocked and deeply saddened," Reynolds said. "We will miss Chauncey and... We now look to the authorities to bring his killer to justice."

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, agreed, saying, "It is my hope that the perpetrators of this horrible crime are brought to justice swiftly, and that Chauncey's untimely death will bring our community together and strengthen our collective hand in rooting out this type of violence."

"Chauncey contributed so much to the fabric of our community," Lee added.

Bob Butler, a reporter for KCBS Radio who's president of the Bay Area Black Journalists Association, said he too was "saddened" to learn of Bailey's death.

"African-Americans have lost a champion and the world has lost an outstanding journalist," Butler said.

Derrick Nesbitt praised Bailey for helping him get into the news business when Bailey worked at Soul Beat TV. But Nesbitt also observed that "Chauncey was very controversial and could bring anger out in people."

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)