Oakland

Man shot, killed while doing yardwork at Oakland home

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A 60-year-old man was shot and killed while doing yardwork at his home in Oakland Monday night, marking the city's 50th homicide of the year.

David Schneider was fatally shot at about 6 p.m. on Camden Street near MacArthur Boulevard in the city's Maxwell Park neighborhood.

"This is just devastating for me," said Mike Schneider, David's brother. "I busted out crying. I'm still crying."

David, better known as Dave, was on a ladder trimming his hedges when he was shot in the back, his brother, Alan Schneider, said. Alan said security video shows where the gunfire came from.

"There was a white vehicle that came down the street," Alan said. "The video shows a person standing next to the vehicle while it is still moving slowly, so that tells you there was somebody driving, and then they get in the car and they drive away and sped off."

Witnesses performed CPR until first responders arrived, but Alan said it was too late.

NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai spoke to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao about the violence in her city as well as the latest on the Oakland A’s planned move to Las Vegas.

David just turned 60 this month. Now, his family is left with only memories of a man they say was a friend to everyone.

"Dave is the kind of guy where he would give you the shirt off his back," Mike said. "If you need money, here you go take it. That’s how he was."

Family and neighbors held a vigil Tuesday in David's honor. Oakland Councilmember Kevin Jenkins was part of the crowd and said neighbors are scared of becoming the next targets.

"You should be able to do things like mow your lawn, check you mail, walk around your neighborhood without having the fear of imminent danger," Jenkins said.

He is calling on Congress to pass tougher gun laws but believes it will also take local solutions to silence the violence.

"I'm committed to working with the community for community-based solutions for this evil that is rotting our community," he said.

As police look for the killer and a motive, family members are struggling to process the shooting.

"Everyone is in shock because they have no idea why somebody would even want to do that," Alan said. "If you are going to shoot somebody, point a gun to them, take their wallet or whatever, but you don’t have to kill somebody over that."

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