San Lorenzo

Dozens Gather in Vigil for Man Killed in San Lorenzo Road Rage Incident

Neighbors, community groups condemn the "senseless" violence.

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An East Bay community gathered Sunday to mourn a man who was killed in a road rage incident exactly one week prior.

30-year-old Rienheart Asuncion was shot at an intersection in San Lorenzo on September 18 and died of his injuries. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is investigating and calls this "a road rage type incident."

According to witnesses, Asuncion got into a road rage incident with another car at Hesperian and Lewelling in San Lorenzo, then someone in that other vehicle shot Asuncion and drove off towards 880. Information on a suspect or suspects has not been released.

On Sunday, local leaders, the group Moms Demand Action, Asuncion's family, friends, and community members gathered for a vigil just across the street from the place where Asuncion had been shot.

David Manapoo and his wife attended this vigil. Manapoo explained that he met Asuncion through work, first through their job at a bakery,and then through another job where they made wine barrels. The two became friends and even had upcoming plans to hang out.

“We were supposed to reconnect and do what friends do,” Manapoo said.

He explained that Asuncion had just gotten married and was preparing to bring his wife to the U.S. NBC Bay Area interviewed Asuncion's wife last week and she explained she was on a video call with him when the gunshots happened.

"You always hear this stuff on the news: someone’s been shot, road rage," Manapoo said, "to have it happen to one of your friends, it’s horrible.”

“Everyone needs to just, stop with the violence, something like this is senseless, [it] didn’t need to happen,” Manapoo continued.

Asuncion's parents who live in San Lorenzo attended the vigil Sunday as well.

“This is tragic for me, what happened to my son,” Anna Tolentino, Asuncion's mother.

Friends of the family are raising funds for Asuncion's funeral expenses.

At the vigil, community leaders and concerned neighbors called for the public not to become desensitized to this tragedy or others like it.

“We must demand justice, we must demand accountability, because the people in this community, they deserve to feel safe,” said local AAPI Community Organizer Harris Mojadedi.

“In the last week, this wasn’t the only death in this community, there were several other families that lost loved ones to gun violence, right here in Alameda County,” Mojadedi added.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office said they are not releasing further details on this incident, but they are confident they will find justice for Asuncion's family.

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