Oakland Still Reeling After School Shooting This Week

A school shooting at Sojourner Truth Independent Study school rocked the Oakland community on Wednesday. Sojourner is just one part of Rudsdale High School located near King Estates Open Space in East Oakland. Six were injured, two of which were said to still have life-threatening injuries as of Thursday. As of today, the search for the shooter (or shooters) is still active. School was shut down Thursday and Friday due to the traumatic and emotionally exhausting situation. The six victims of the shooting range in age from 18-50 years old.

Bullet shell casings at Rudsdale Newcomer High School are marked by police evidence markers – photo from Kron4

“Anytime there is a shooting in our community it is a complete tragedy, but as a parent, I completely understand the fear, the emotion, the panic of shootings occurring at schools with young children and it’s completely and wholly unacceptable,” OPD Assistant Chief Darren Allison said.

This story is still ongoing. Early reports suggested that this shooting may have been gang-related and is not the first time there has been violence at the school. What we do know is that Oakland residents are asking for change. Meanwhile, there seems to be 

Texts sent to media suggest victims were encouraged to not work with police

On Thursday, reporter Dan Noyes, tweeted “Law enforcement sources tell me school officials texted shooting victims NOT to cooperate with police.” We’ve personally not heard what the school officials were advising students. However, according to an article written by Noyes for ABC, “He would not deny it, but Oakland Unified School District spokesman John Sasaki did say, ‘If you’re asking me if our school told students not to talk to police, that is not correct.’”

Tweet from Dan Noyes of ABC News

Rudsdale High School website tells, “The students at Rudsdale Newcomer high school are recently arrived immigrants who have fled their home countries because of violence and instability. They are all between 16-21 years old and are navigating systems in the U.S. for the first time as adolescents.”

In an email written to Oakland residents, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong said, “I am saddened yet again, as our community is the victim of gun violence.  The most vulnerable people in our community are our children.  A school is a place where our children should not have to worry about being a victim of gun violence.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf responded to the incident saying, “Every big city mayor is tired of making statements once again denouncing violence. We are tired of recognizing that – despite heroic efforts at local levels – we cannot solve gun violence without federal action. Like so many other mayors in America, I call on the obstructionists in Congress to take real action against this unbridled psychosis of violence in our country, and the unacceptable access to assault weapons in our cities.

“While we wait for that action, we will do what we do best in Oakland, which is to wrap our arms around communities that have been traumatized by yet another incident of senseless gun violence. We will provide healing and support and work to change the conditions at the community level and the individual level that ensures people will not resort to violence, as well as dedicate all available resources to bringing these perpetrators to justice. I say, as a mayor and as a mother of high school students, we have to do better.”

Oakland residents hope for positive change after this school shooting:

To be expected, residents want more action and less violence for sure and feel that officials aren’t doing enough to protect communities. Resident James Baldwin of East Oakland spent 13 years in prison for gang related charges. His current mission is to help young people strive for a different way of life. He told Fox news,

“We need more hands. We need more people of power to say let’s step from behind this desk and say let me come to the problem.”

Students are speaking out as well. “As a student, I feel sad and it breaks my heart that we have so much violence here in Oakland,” said Oakland student Nicolas Vargas to Fox news, “I would like to see there be more safety.”

Safety should always be the top priority. Especially when speaking about our children and students. Our sincere hope is that those involved are found and that through that people feel safe going to school. Until then, we’re not sure how safe students, teachers and residents will feel.

As for Rudsdale, the school remains closed through Tuesday.

Safety should always be the top priority. Especially when speaking about our children and students.