OAKLAND, California - Six people were shot at a campus in Oakland on Wednesday that houses at least three schools, prompting lockdowns and evacuations as police descended on the scene.
The shootings, which left two adult victims hospitalised with life-threatening injuries and panicked scores of families who arrived to retrieve students only to find the campus in lockdown – came amid a rash of gun violence in Oakland, where the authorities have recorded at least eight gunshot deaths in the past nine days.
Police said all of the victims were over 18 and had “some affiliation” with Rudsdale Newcomer High School, one of four programmes at the East Oakland school complex.
But they did not immediately specify whether those who had been injured were students, school workers or bystanders, and said they were still searching for the gunman.
Mr Darren Allison, assistant chief of the Oakland Police Department, said "other individuals" might have been involved in the shooting, which began about 12.45 pm (3.45am in Singapore).
He added that the Police Department was still investigating whether the shooting was targeted or random.
Four other victims had been treated at local hospitals and were either released or expected to be discharged soon.
The shooting occurred at the King Estate complex, where four different school programmes are located: the headquarters for Sojourner Truth Independent Study; Bay Area Technology School, a charter programme that serves students in grades six through 12; Rudsdale Continuation High School; and Rudsdale Newcomer High School.
Mr John Sasaki, spokesperson for the Oakland Unified School District, said at a news conference that “what happened today was wrong. It was very traumatic. It was devastating to our school community”.
He added that counseling would be available for students.
Mr Matthew Benjamin, a high school teacher at Bay Area Technology School, said he was walking down a hallway when he heard what sounded like gunshots, one after another, right around the corner.
"It was a blur," Mr Benjamin said. "I just instinctively turned around. I jumped back into the classroom; I told everyone, 'Get down'. Kids were starting to flip out, and I grabbed hold of the door."
Mr Benjamin's class locked the windows and hunkered down for about an hour. "You're scared for the kids," he said.
Across the hallway, Mr Sherman Moore, a science teacher, heard what he thought were fireworks. But he told his students to stay quiet, just in case.
Then, a voice came on the intercom that the school was being locked down. The students pushed tables and chairs up against the doors and waited, hoping for the best.
About an hour later, police officers knocked on the door and evacuated everyone.
"Once we started walking up the hallway, I knew it was really serious, because they had us do this," Mr Moore said, putting his hands above his head.
The Oakland authorities said the Police Department has investigated 360 assaults with a firearm this year, compared with 465 incidents by this time last year, a 23 per cent reduction, and homicide rates have fallen slightly in the past year.
But crime has long been an issue in economically depressed neighborhoods, including East Oakland.
Alarm has risen in recent months among parents in the school district, which voted in 2020 in the wake of social justice demonstrations to disband its school police department and replace it with an alternative school safety plan.
“It’s a lot to process – our community, our parents, are feeling the weight of so much trauma,” said Ms Treva Reid, an Oakland City Council member who represents the campus area. NYTIMES
