16-year-old girl shot to death in Hayward: police

HAYWARD, Calif. - A 16-year-old girl was shot to death and a 41-year-old man was wounded by bullets in Hayward over the weekend – the latest in a string of violent acts targeting teenagers in this city, police said.

Hayward police said that officers were called out on Saturday about 11:15 a.m. to a shooting in the 900 block of West Tennyson Road.

At least one shooter opened fire from a car, prompting another person with a gun to return fire. 

"It appears there was gunfire exchanged between two parties," said Hayward Police Chief Bryan Matthews. "We do not believe this was a random act. We do believe there was an individual who was targeted."

Matthews said police have recovered a high-powered rifle and a stolen car that was used in the shooting. But no arrests have been made. The chief says the shooting appeared targeted toward the girl’s family. 

"We do believe that this incident involves the 16-year-old’s family members. But we don’t know whether or not she was the specific intended target of this incident," the chief said.

A 41-year-old man was caught in the crossfire and was hit by a stray bullet. He is expected to recover.

Police are trying to find out what led up to the shooting.

"We don’t know the motive," Matthews said. "We don’t know whether, it’s too early in the investigation to say whether this is gang-related, whether it involves drug trafficking, we just don’t know the answers to those yet."

Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas said the city is trying to do more to keep kids busy especially in the summer months, with internships, summer jobs and camps.

"We do not want this to happen again, and I wish we could prevent all of these, but you know  sometimes things like this happen. However, we just gotta keep working," Salinas said.

Video from the apartment buildings showed bullet holes had pierced columns in front of the complex's gate. 

The 16-year-old girl is Hayward's eighth homicide victim this year, police said.

The man was found near the 28000 block of Ruus Road after leaving the scene.

Police don't believe the two knew each other.

Other teens have suffered violence in Hayward recently. 

On June 24, someone shot two teens, killing one of them. 

Domonique Fank, the 15-year-old boy, died and a 13-year-old boy was injured after gunfire erupted at a home on Second Street near Sylvan Glen Court. KTVU has learned investigators are looking into the likelihood that the shooting was gang-related.

Domonique's father told KTVU that his son was not in a gang. 

Then, on July 14, an 18-year-old was shot to death; he was found suffering from gunshot wounds in the driver's seat of a car that appeared to have hit a parked car after a shooting, police said. 

No motives have been released for any of the deaths. Police say the killings do not appear to be related to each other. 

Police have not announced arrests in any of the cases. 

Anyone with information related to the homicide is asked to call Detective Navas at 510-293-7176.

KTVU photographer Eric Meecham contributed to this report.

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