Multiple people were injured in a shooting Wednesday night during a Juneteenth celebration near Oakland’s Lake Merritt neighborhood, police said.
About 5,000 people gathered at the lake for Juneteenth events when someone opened fire in the 400 block of Grand Avenue around 8:45 p.m., injuring several people, police said.
The events, which were not sanctioned by the city, were peaceful until a fight broke out during a sideshow or illegal street occupation near the intersection of Grand and Bellevue avenues, police said.
“As the crowd moved toward the altercation, multiple shots were fired,” Oakland police said in a news release.
“We were all celebrating and it started to become a sideshow and there were a few fights. …The next thing we knew, we thought we heard fireworks,” Tamia Robinson told ABC7 KGO at the scene Wednesday night. “So all we did was run. …The next thing you hear is ‘boom-boom-boom-boom-boom’ coming from the other side of the lake. … We were walking and my sister jumped across the street and saw one of her friends lying on the bed.
An unknown number of people were injured, authorities said.
Police at the scene treated some of the shooting victims, while some were transported to the hospital on their own or by others. Police said some officers suffered minor injuries after clashing with crowds as they tried to move people to safety after the shooting.
One person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, but no one has been arrested in connection with the shooting, police said.
There were no reports of injuries and police said it was unclear whether there was more than one shooter.
