Oakland’s police chief is calling on the public to help stop the violence after a particularly bloody week in the city.
In the past seven days, the city has seen three shootings that left five people dead and several more injured along with a deadly hit and run.
"What I am asking is for our community to take a serious look at ourselves internally about how quickly we result to gun violence," police Chief Floyd Mitchell said. "We have to stop this."
The recent deaths come from what Mitchell described as reckless and senseless actions.
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"When you lose a life, that life is gone," he said. "There are better ways to go about the disputes that they are having. We are going to continue to work through cease-fire and the department of violence prevention to try to find non-violent ways to solve these issues."
The latest deadly shooting happened on the 9000 block of MacArthur Boulevard at about 11 p.m. Thursday. Hours earlier on Ney Avenue, a separate shooting left one man dead and two others injured. Investigators said they believe that shooting was connected to gang and group violence.
A quadruple shooting last weekend left two dead and two injured – a shooting police believe stemmed from a fight over a parking spot.
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Donald Lacy works to empower youth and raise awareness of violence and mental health through the LoveLife Foundation. He said he wants to see a greater investment in prevention efforts.
"How can we figure out how to address what makes people violent?" he said. "What can we do to get in front of these horrible crimes and at least get people to consider their actions before they pull the trigger, before they run over somebody in their car? It’s a bigger societal issue."
One of Thursday's shootings happened in Councilmember Treva Reid's district. In a statement, she said, "These violent incidents underscore the urgent need for increased violence prevention, community and public safety resources, and support in our community, which I have continued to fight for."
Monday's hit and run left a 17-year-old girl dead. The suspect was arrested after witnesses detained him but has since been released. The district attorney said police never presented them with a case.
The recent crimes come as police say they are focused on their cease-fire strategy. Mitchell and city officials will meet Friday night at their first of multiple community safety town halls.
"We are going to do the best we can with what we have," Mitchell said. "We all know the situation that the city is in and we are going to be in this situation for the unforeseeable future. We are going to continue to work hard."
In a statement, the mayor's office said the meetings are meant to provide a detail of Oakland's public safety plan and have an open dialogue with the community.
