2 killings in 11 minutes in Oakland

Two people were shot to death 11 minutes apart on Monday afternoon in separate incidents in East Oakland, police said, killings believed to be the 100th and 101st homicides of the year in Oakland.

At 5: 01 p. m., officers responded to reports of a shooting on Nattress Way near 105th Avenue and found a 47yearold man suffering from a gunshot wound.

He did not respond to treatment from paramedics and was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity was being withheld pending notification of next of kin, police said.

Eleven minutes later, police responding to another report of a shooting, found a 38yearold man at 19th Street and 23rd Avenue. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died. His identity was also being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Anyone with information on either slaying should call the police homicide bureau at 5102383821.

East Oakland has been an epicenter of shootings and slayings in the city, where homicides are up about onethird over last year, following five years of reductions in gun crimes. Police say the pandemic is partly to blame for the increase, as officers have had to curb the activities of their centralized gun investigation and violence interruption programs. Turf wars between rival gangs have also contributed to the rising violence, police said.

The spate of violence has also complicated discussions about defunding Oakland’s Police Department that followed massive protests over police brutality against people of color.

Last month, following the 79th slaying of the year, interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer called the increase “really concerning to us” and said some Oakland residents “are hearing and experiencing gunfire each and every night.”