Flower delivery ends with deadly shooting outside Oakland apartment building
OAKLAND -- New details are emerging from a deadly shooting Wednesday outside an Oakland apartment building. The young man may have been delivering flowers when he was shot and killed.
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Many living in the building on 26th Street are still shaken about what happened.
Chris Folse was in the area and he says he heard "One really loud bang immediately followed by victim screaming 'help me!'"
Folse narrowly escaped being in the line of fire himself. He was out walking his dog around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. When he entered his apartment building, he heard a gunshot.
"It happened really quick. The altercation down the street. Apparently there was a disagreement between two people and it escalated really fast," he said.
KPIX obtained footage from one of the residents. It shows a man lying on the ground being helped by several bystanders.
"From the shot until the time he became unresponsive was really about two minutes. It was very grim from the get-go," Folse said.
According to Oakland police, officers treated the victim until medical personnel arrived but he was later pronounced dead at the hospital. A source tells KPIX the victim was delivering flowers and made a comment to a man passing by. The verbal exchange ended with the victim hurling the vase and the suspect firing a gun.
Brett Sellman was about to walk out his door when the incident unfolded.
"It is kind of scary. I walk out to the store right here all the time. I kinda, it hits me. Could this happen to me? It's not a good feeling," Sellman said.
Those living at this intersection of 26th and Telegraph say that, for the most part, it's a fairly quiet neighborhood. This incident serves as a reminder to many that crime can happen anytime, anywhere.
"You can't really control where crime is so all you can do is -- or the way I look at it is -- always keeping your head on a swivel and being aware of your surroundings," Folse said.
Investigators are still looking into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Oakland Police Department: (510) 238-3455
