Cleaning Up After a Shooting

Police clean up crime scene at MLK Jr. Way and Apgar

An Oakland resident reported Jan. 30 to an email list: "I was walking home from MacArthur BART earlier, taking MLK Jr. Way to West MacArthur, when I heard shouting and yelling across the street from King smoke shop in front of the big Food Not Bombs house on the corner of Apgar and MLK. Then I heard five or six gunshots and 'Oh sh*t, look at dat n****r.' A number of kids/young adults ran across the street and up Marcus Books. I saw one guy with an oversized white t-shirt, black pants, maybe dreads, running backwards. He reached behind his shirt. The thugs scattered up MLK and down Apgar in seconds. No one else was around. I called OPD at 1:19 p.m. from Marcus Books (I ran there after hearing the gunshots). A few minutes later two ambulances and a bunch of cop cars showed up. Wish I saw more, wish I didn't see it at all."

According to press reports, one man was killed and another critically wounded in the drive-by shooting. The two were among seven persons standing at the corner. None of them cooperated with police after the murder. Less than a year ago another murder occurred at the same intersection.

Another member of the email list, Amy, comments: "That is really scary. I wish that there were enough police resources available to have an officer camp out on that corner. That place is a danger to public safety. How can the City of Oakland allow these dangerous thugs to continuously loiter less than a block away from the MacArthur BART station? If the people running Oakland are serious about preventing crime and public safety, that corner would be a good place to start. Dellums, Brunner, you've been notified of the problem. Please try to be proactive and do something before one of my neighbors gets shot!"

Last June, councilmember Brunner pushed through a proposal to hire "at-risk" youth to escort passengers coming off BART for a block or so. The gap between the situation on the ground in depoliced Oakland and this councilmember's proposal is obvious. Another councilmember generally counsels turning on your porch light, while the City will install brighter light bulbs in street lamps.

We need a councilmember who gives top priority to at least 1,100 police in Oakland, a city of 400,000 held hostage by a tiny percentage of thugs who dominate the streets with their culture of disrespect.