24-year-old woman shot near Lake Merritt

Woman sitting by Lake MerrittPatrick Perkins/Unsplash

On Monday night just before 8 pm, a 911 caller reported hearing shots fired near 102 International Boulevard, less than a block from Lake Merritt.

They reported seeing a person who may have been shot.

Minutes later, a woman walked into a nearby hospital saying she was shot in the area.

Police found evidence of the shooting and detained a suspect.

One hour later, the woman was reportedly in stable condition.

Over 100,000 people were notified on the popular crime reporting app, Citizen. Individuals took to the comments to complain about the weekend noise at the lake and how likely it is to experience crime there.

But has it always been this way? Or has crime increased since the pandemic began? We’ve found scattered evidence that crime near the lake has increased in the last two years.

Shootings Near Lake Merritt

In January of this year, one person was killed and one person was injured in a shooting near Lake Merritt.

In March, a 75-year-old Asian man was attacked near the lake, and another was killed.

Last year in May, another woman was shot a few steps from the lake near Wayne Avenue.

In the cases of the women, it is unknown if they were shot by stray bullets or intentionally.

In 2019, crime near the lake was 27% above the national average according to the FBI. It is currently unknown how these figures look since the pandemic.

In April the Oakland Police Chief addressed the spike in crime in Oakland, though it’s unclear what will change.

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