Arrest in ice cream truck driver slaying

A suspect was arrested in the slaying of an ice cream truck driver who was gunned down in a midday attack in Oakland last month that the city’s mayor called an act of “senseless violence,” police said Wednesday.

Joevan Lopez, 23, was taken into custody on suspicion of killing 45year-old Jasvir Singh Oct. 3 in East Oakland, officials said.

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation on the 9300 block of Peach Street near 94th Avenue around 4:30 p.m., police said.

Responding officers found Singh in his ice cream truck suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He died at the scene, police said.

Around the time of the incident, Singh’s ice cream truck hit a parked car, but it was unclear whether the crash happened before or after he was shot, police said.

Singh’s death came within days of the killing of 27-year-old artist Antonio Ramos, who was shot while working on a community antiviolence mural project in West Oakland, a fact not lost on Mayor Libby Schaaf.

“There is something especially poignant when someone engaged in a positive and innocent act — like painting a mural or driving an ice cream truck — falls victim to senseless violence,” she said in a statement soon after Singh’s death.

No arrest has been made in Ramos’ slaying.

The case against Lopez is under review by the Alameda County district attorney’s office, police said, and formal charges are expected by the end of the week.