'Street beef' blamed for shooting that wounds 6-year-old, 2 adults at youth football game
OAKLAND, Calif. - An Oakland youth football team on Monday apologized to the community after a shooting during the team's game over the weekend left three people, including a 6-year-old girl, wounded.
A chaotic scene unfolded Sunday afternoon at Oakland Technical High School where two Pop Warner football teams, the Oakland Dynamites and a team from Fresno, faced off.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong confirmed at a news conference on Monday that a 6-year-old girl was shot during the mayhem. Also wounded were a woman in her 50s and a man in his 30s. All the victims are expected to survive.
In a message penned to parents and community members, the Oakland Dynamites said, "As staff at OD we try to create a fun festive environment for our children to play football and cheer. We can’t control these knuckleheads, but we can improve and try to take better security measures at the field. Unfortunately, this was some street beef that spilled onto the football field."
Francine Loya, the coach of the Fresno team, shared footage of the aftermath in the video below. Warning: the video contains explicit language.
Oakland police said it appears that a dispute happened in the stands, and that escalated to gun violence.
Armstrong said the department was "saddened by this blatant disregard for life that occurred yesterday as individuals showed a complete lack of compassion for young people out there participating in the peewee football game."
Armstrong said there were 500 people in attendance at the youth football game, and although three people were struck by gunfire, the carnage could have been worse.
The Oakland Dynamites condemned the "senseless violence" and said the matter points to a wider issue plaguing the city.
"This is not a Dynamite problem this is a Oakland problem!"
Armstrong said this isn't the first time Oakland Dynamites youth were faced with tragedy while at a team event.
In February 2021, a fatal shooting occurred at Concordia Park in front of the team as they were practicing.
The suspect in that case was arrested.
"These young people have no business witnessing this level of violence back to back years by adults," Armstrong said.
The police chief said there were multiple shooters or possibly groups of shooters involved in Sunday's incident.
Oakland police said there were multiple shooters involved or possibly groups of shooters involved in Sunday's incident.