Posted on July 8, 2021

Oakland Streets Erupt Into ’12 Hours of Non-Stop Chaos’

KPIX, July 7, 2021

The Fourth of July reeled into “12 hours of non-stop chaos” Sunday night with several victims wounded by celebratory gunfire, a homicide and a massive sideshow marred by gunfire. The night culminated at the sideshow, where more than 200 participants pelted police officers with debris and flashed them with hand-held lasers.

Embattled Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong told reporters that the level of violence and gunfire overwhelmed his officers.

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“This was 12 hours of non-stop chaos,” he continued. “This is one of the most violent July 4ths I can remember.”

While celebratory gunfire has been a hallmark of New Year’s Eve and July 4th for years, Armstrong said it reeled completely out of control on Sunday.

“The level of violence is far too high,” he said. “Our officers were stretched and did the best we could. {snip} Celebratory gunfire led to the vast majority of these shooting and injuring others. The last 24 hours has been very difficult in the city of Oakland.”

At one point, there were no ambulances available to help treat the injured.

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There were 7 shootings overnight, one that claimed the life of a 48-year-old man. An eighth shooting took place at around 9:54 a.m. Monday {snip}

Arriving police officers discovered a woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. She was rushed to the hospital, but Armstrong said she was not expected to survive.

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While they were racing to respond to several reports of shootings, Oakland officers were also confronted with trying to deal with a massive sideshow.

“We encountered a violent and dangerous sideshow with 300 vehicles and 200 spectators with the use of firearms and lasers,” Armstrong said. {snip}

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“This is a warm summer,” Armstrong said. “We are at 67 homicides… {snip} Previously I would have told you hopefully this will slow down as the pandemic slows things to open back up but we haven’t seen that. We have seen violence continue.”