BITTER EXPERIENCE AT SWEET JIMMIE'S

Bob Walsh, writing on PACOVILLA Corrections blog, called this shooting, ‘Stupid, random homicidal violence.’ Bob refers to Oakland as ‘the teeming cesspool of crime’ which it has been as long as I can remember. And I agree with Bob when he says ‘damn, I hate that meaningless phrase’ whenever he sees or hears the term ‘assault rifle’ being used.

OAKLAND RESTAURANT SHOOTINGS ‘INDISCRIMINATE’
By Henry K. Lee

San Francisco Chronicle
April 26, 2011

OAKLAND -- A man with an assault rifle who killed two people, including an elementary-school aide, and wounded four others early Monday in a restaurant near Oakland's Jack London Square apparently shot his victims at random during a botched robbery, authorities said.

About a dozen people were inside Sweet Jimmie's restaurant and bar at 311 Broadway when the gunman stood at the front door and opened fire at about 12:45 a.m.

Cynthia Perkins, a police spokeswoman, called the shootings "indiscriminate."

Police are investigating reports that the killer was one of four men in a white, four-door Dodge Avenger who pulled up to Sweet Jimmie's just before the shootings. Someone from the Dodge strode to the front entrance with an assault rifle and opened fire, police said.

One of the slain men was identified as Adam Williams, 22, of San Leandro, who worked at an after-school program at Peralta Elementary School in Oakland. The name of the other, a 27-year-old Oakland man, has not been released.

Two other men sustained life-threatening wounds, and two women were shot but are expected to survive, Perkins said.

The gunman and his companions drove off after the shootings. They were described as black men in their late teens or early 20s.

The restaurant, located blocks from Oakland police headquarters and around the corner from the Alameda County coroner's office, was closed Monday. Five yellow chalk circles made by police were visible on the sidewalk.

David Ward, the operator of Sweet Jimmie's, extended his condolences to the victims.

Ward said that the assailants were trying to rob someone outside and that "when they failed, they began shooting. People who had previously been outside burst into our establishment and sought refuge from the gunman." The gunman then chased the victims inside and opened fire, "wounding and killing several innocent people playing games and enjoying the end of the Easter holiday."

Ben Delaney, president of the board of the Jack London District Association, said of Monday's violence, "The problem as I see it is lack of education and the lack of respect that we pay our kids, the fact that they don't have job prospects, and that there are just too many damn guns on the street. When all these things add up, you get frustrated, angry young people, and the fights that used to be fistfights turn out to be shootouts."

In a statement, Mayor Jean Quan called the shootings "tragic and troubling" and said police would increase patrols in the area.