Two Oakland homicides within 30 minutes, including 17-year-old boy

OAKLAND, Calif. - Two homicides were reported in Oakland late Monday night within 30 minutes of each other, including the deaths of a 17-year-old boy and a 29-year-old man.

They are the city's 71st and 72nd homicides of the year, and follow a spike in killings throughout the city. 

Oakland police on Tuesday said the most recent of the gunshot victims was discovered at 10:41 p.m. in the 9800 block of Sunnyside Street. Officers found that a 17-year-old boy had been shot, and he died at the hospital, police said. 

The teen's death follows another reported homicide at 10:15 p.m. in the 1700 Block of Church street. Officers discovered two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. One of them was taken to the hospital; a 29-year-old other was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Police have not said if these homicides are related.

But both come after an especially violent weekend of shootings and homicides in Oakland, where there were four deadly shootings in 48 hours.

On Sunday, 16-year-old Aaron Pryor, a football player at Skyline High School in Oakland, was shot and killed on Elizabeth Street near Seminary Avenue. 

"Aaron came to us with a hunger and a leadership ability that we rarely see, and that kid got text messages in my phone that I was blown away," said Skyline football coach Joe Bates. "That's why I'm shedding some tears, hearing about what happened."

Oakland city leaders reacted sharply to the violence. 

"Every life lost is a tragedy that rocks our community with grief," said Mayor Libby Schaaf. "We are doubling down with our violence prevention teams and with our law enforcement partners to save every precious life in Oakland and end the violence now."

Rebecca Kaplan, president of the City Council said she wants a crackdown on gun violence to be the top law enforcement priority in the city.

"We must recognize the easy availability of illegal guns increases violence and harm, and in order to reduce gun violence, we need to crack down on illegal guns, and have a timely and effective response to shooting notifications," Kaplan said.

Regina Jackson, chair of the Oakland Police Commission said the panel "will continue to develop policies that address the needs of the people of the city of Oakland, no matter their walk of life."

The Oakland police union said the City Council and Police Commission were allowing "violence and murders to spin out of control in Oakland." 

Drennon Lindsey, interim deputy police chief, said, "We're collaborating with other entities such as the DEA or the FBI, just to try to come up with some identification of the people who continue to be involved in these acts of violence."

San Jose has seen a rash of killings too. San Jose police on Tuesday said detectives have responded to four shootings in 11 hours; at least two of them have been fatal.

All are ongoing investigations.  Anyone who has information is asked to contact the Oakland Police Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821.