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Who is the downtown Oakland shooter? Man, 22, shot dead in Chinatown few blocks away from police headquarters

The latest slaying has seen the city's homicide rate more than double that of 2020. This is Oakland police's 54th murder investigation this year

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Authorities said a man was fatally shot in downtown Oakland's Chinatown on Monday, May 24, the latest slaying in a year that has seen the city's homicide rate more than double that of 2020, reported the East Bay Times.

Officers were sent to the 400 block of Eighth Street, a block north of Oakland police headquarters, for a shooting call at 2:12 pm. Gunshots were heard by officers inside the headquarters. They found an unconscious man next to a car with at least one gunshot wound just east of Broadway. Despite police efforts to save his life, the man was pronounced dead on the scene. His name was not available on May 24, but he was preliminarily identified as a 22-year-old man who did not live in Oakland. Traffic was blocked around the intersection of Eighth and Broadway as investigators spoke with witnesses and tried to retrieve video from surveillance cameras, the East Bay Times reported.

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Who is the Downtown Oakland shooter?

The shooting had no apparent motive and no suspect or vehicle descriptions were given by police, but a spokesman said the shooting did not appear to be random.

Capt. Bobby Hookfin, police's spokesman at a press conference that at least 20 rounds were fired, most likely with "a high-powered weapon" or "multiple weapons," according to the San Fransisco Chronicle. Nearly a dozen people, mostly family members, gathered on Broadway between Eighth and Seventh streets about 4 pm, hugging and crying.

Not a hate crime

According to KPIX 5, the shooting on Monday, May 24, has little to do with the recent rash of assaults and hate crimes against Asian Americans, CBS San Fransisco reported. The incident, according to Hookfin, was a "targeted shooting."

This is Oakland police's 54th murder investigation this year. Last year at this time, police were investigating 23 homicides in the city, and their 24th homicide would not be investigated until May 30, the East Bay Times reported.

Most recently on May 5 this year, an AC Transit bus and a business were hit by bullets during a shoot-out in the heart of downtown, authorities said. While no one was injured by the gunfire, several people fled for safety during the shooting which occurred in the 1500 block of Telegraph Avenue near Latham Square at about 7 pm. Until gunfire was exchanged, police said the occupants of a parked SUV and a vehicle stopped in the roadway apparently got into an argument, the East Bay Times said in a report.

The Oakland Police Department and Crime Stoppers are providing a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of suspects for the May 24 shooting.