OAKLAND, Calif. – Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price on Tuesday addressed the violence that erupted at a Juneteenth festival in Oakland, which ended with more than a dozen people being shot.
Price held a press conference where she referred to the incident as a mass shooting.
“A mass shooting is generally defined as any time a person shoots more than four people in a single incident. Certainly, we believe that the incident on the evening of Juneteenth qualifies for that,” said Price.
The shooting happened last week after a sideshow broke out on the north side of Lake Merritt.
“We know there were multiple shooters,” she said. “It does not appear that one person was targeting particular people or that particular people were targeted. There were multiple incidents that appear to have spiraled out of control.”
The Oakland Police Department is still investigating the incident, and there have not been any arrests related to the actual shooting.
“Unfortunately, I’ve learned that no one is currently charged at this time,” said Price before asking for the public’s help in solving the case.
“There are a lot of videos. We need witnesses, and we need reliable witnesses so the Oakland Police Department can determine what happened and who’s accountable,” she said.
During the press conference, Price was asked by reporters about the FBI raid at Mayor Sheng Thao’s home. She declined to speak on it, only saying, “I’m a resident of Oakland, I’m saddened by what we’re experiencing in this season. I know that all of us are traumatized by the events that we observed starting with Wednesday night’s mass shooting and followed by the raid on Thursday morning, I think we should all reserve judgment until we have the facts. And we should pray for our city.”