Police arrest Colorado man in connection with '21 shootout

Nearly two years after three people were injured in a shootout outside a popular lounge here, one of the injured men has been charged with attempted murder, court records show.

Akil Joseph, 37, of Aurora, Colorado, was charged with attempted murder and illegal gun possession in connection with the Oct. 2, 2021, shooting, court records show. Police allege that Joseph shot a man in the chest before he was wounded by another gunman during the ensuing shootout.

In fact, it was blood left at the scene of the crime that did Joseph in, authorities say. In late 2022, a lab analyst matched the DNA to an offender profile in Colorado, where Joseph has a 2009 gun possession conviction.

Joseph was arrested in late August and entered a not guilty plea Sept. 1, court records show. He remains jailed without bail and is next due in court in mid-October.

The shootout occurred outside of a cocktail lounge on Broadway at 25th Street in Oakland. It started when an unidentified suspect pulled a gun on another man, who began to wrestle with him over the pistol.

Joseph allegedly walked up with his own gun and shot the man who was going for the gun, striking him in the chest.

Then a third man pulled a pistol and exchanged shots with Joseph and the unidentified suspect. Both the third man and Joseph were injured. Police say Joseph was able to leave the scene with the unidentified suspect's help, but authorities never verified where he received medical care.

The case was filed in January — it was the very first case filed in Alameda County in 2023. Joseph was arrested in Colorado by the U.S. Marshals and extradited to California on Aug. 30, court records show.