Oakland school campus shooting was likely gang-related; 6 victims connected to school

OAKLAND, Calif. - All six people who were shot at an Oakland educational campus Wednesday were connected to the schools there, the city's police chief said, adding that the attack was most likely gang-related. 

Two of the victims are students, one is a counselor, one is a security guard and two others work at the schools on Fontaine Street, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said at a Zoom news conference on Thursday. 

Three victims are currently in the hospital; two of whom are suffering from serious wounds. The other three have been released from the hospital, the chief said. There were more than 30 rounds fired on campus on Fontaine Street about 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday. 

OUSD carpenter Jason Arbuckle said he is one of the victims, and sent KTVU photos of himself in the hospital. 

In text messages, Arbuckle wrote, I'm good and I'm alive" and "at the moment I am in a hustle and bustle, doing my best to get the heck out of this place." 

He added he is telling everyone: "live your best life." 

OUSD carpenter Jason Arbuckle said he is one of the six shooting victims. 

Armstrong said there were at least "two shooters and another accomplice related to this case, but they may have been more. We've seen a video that captured two specific shooters and one driver." 

The shooters breached the entry point of the school and immediately began to fire multiple rounds, video of the scene shows. 

He said he's not sure if the front door was unlocked or not, but it doesn't look like used any tools to break in at this point. He said the shooters didn't make it very far into the school. 

The King Estates campus comprises a cluster of schools — Rudsdale Continuation School, Newcomer high schools, BayTech Charter School, and the headquarters of Sojourner Truth Independent Study.

"We're not sure at this point how they entered… if the door was unlocked or it was already open," Armstrong said. "Those are the things that I will confirm within our investigation."

He said that police believe the shooting was gang related and that the shooting was targeted – even though the people who were wounded were not all the intended targets. Armstrong said he didn't know exactly who the intended target was. 

"We believe that this is related to ongoing conflicts in our city that has driven violence throughout our city," Armstrong said. "That is wholly unacceptable. We thank God that many more students were not injured as a result of this action."

Armstrong stressed that even though keys were needed to enter certain classrooms, officers did not wait to receive those keys. Instead, police used breaching tools in order to enter every classroom and conduct a thorough search of the entire campus.

In August, Armstrong said police responded to the same campus involving a firearm and made an arrest on that occasion.

"We did not have any information that would lead us to believe that there was going to be a shooting on campus," Armstrong said. 

As a result of the shooting, classes were canceled on Thursday and for the immediate future. 

OUSD spokesman John Sasaki did not give a date when the campus would be reopened. 

"At least for the time being, they will remain closed because of the fact that we have to repair a lot of damage." 

KTVU's Brooks Jarosz and Henry Lee contributed to this report.