Oakland hills, once calm, now ringing with gunfire

The sound of semiautomatic gunfire is making its way from Oakland’s eastern flatlands up into the hills above, as criminals and partiers turn outoftheway neighborhoods into their personal shooting ranges.

“The other night we heard shots at 8: 30,

9: 30, 10: 30 — all night long. And not just one or two shots, but multiple rounds from what sounds like automatic weapons,” hills resident Nuno Mike Ferreira said. “It’s like a de facto shooting range.”

Councilman Larry Reid, who represents the area as well as the flatlands below, said the sound of gunfire has become a common occurrence in the wooded residential areas around

Grass Valley, King Estates, the former Oak Knoll Naval Hospital and scenic Skyline Drive.

“You never used to hear that kind of automatic gunfire up there,” Reid said.

Ferreira said his daughter and her friends were on the ridge behind King Estates Middle School in August when a car pulled up. A man got out of the passenger side and shot

about five rounds into the dirt, then quickly got back in the car and took off.

Clues indicate that, in some cases, gunfire in the hills may be from gang members and others using the area to testfire weapons before heading back to the flats for real trouble.

“Some of the shell casings that have turned up in the foothills match the casings found at crime scenes in the flatlands, so it appears that the same guns were used,” said Capt. Tony Jones, head of the Police Department’s Ceasefire program, which works to deter gang violence.

“What I think is going on is that people are taking their guns up there to either practice