One man is dead and another is in critical condition following what police said was likely an electrocution when a power line fell in an Oakland neighborhood Friday night.
According to Oakland police, at about 11:35 p.m. officers responded to the area of Birch Street and 89th Avenue on a report of gunshots. Upon arrival, police located two men, both unresponsive, in the 1900 block of 89th Avenue. Police said a downed power line was between the victims.
Oakland Fire Department and Paramedics Plus provided medical assistance to the victims, and transported them to the hospital.
Police said 19-year-old Jermaine Tarver of Oakland died a short time later at the hospital.
The second victim, 23-year-old Oakland resident Tresylian Redd is in critical but stable condition, police said.
PG&E responded to the scene and shut off power to the surrounding area. PG&E spokeswoman Jana Morris said crews hope to have power restored by noon Saturday.
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The cause of the downed power line is still under investigation, according to police.
A witness to the incident said it appeared that fireworks hit a power line, causing it to fall on the victim. But Morris said the cause of the outage was gunshot damage to PG&E equipment.
Oakland police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call the Homicide Unit at (510) 238-3821.
