The shooter who killed a Fremont toddler with a stray bullet along an East Bay freeway last weekend is still at large, and on Friday, officials with the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce announced a $10,000 reward for anyone who helps track down the killer.
Jasper Wu was asleep in his car seat as his mother drove along Interstate 880 in Oakland when he was struck and killed by a stray bullet that came from another moving vehicle, police said.
Along with the reward announcement at Pacific Renaissance Plaza, the Chinatown community continued to plead for help from anyone who was in the area of I-880 near Filbert Street at around 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 and might have dashcam or cellphone video of the shooting.
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Oakland once again is dealing with a spike in violence. This year, 119 people have died by homicide, a number that surpassed last year's total some time ago. And in a recent 12-hour span from late Wednesday to early Thursday, a woman was hit by stray bullet while buying concert tickets outside the Fox Theatre; a 68-year old man was shot several times in East Oakland; and a woman was fatally shot at Lake Merritt.
Oakland leaders say it’s time for the city and law enforcement to do something different.
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"The thugs and the criminals know that we don’t have enough police officers to police the city, so it’s almost they can do whatever they want, they won’t get caught," Bishop Bob Jackson of Acts Full Gospel Church said.
Councilman Noel Gallo added: "I am communicating with the highway patrol, OPD and Caltrans to see what we can do here in Oakland to install cameras on highways."
Some of the focus of crime prevention may be on getting firearms out of the hands of criminals. Gun-related assaults in Oakland are up 33%.
