A 17-year-old girl was killed in Oakland as she was attending a service for two teenage boys who drowned over the Memorial Day weekend in Stanislaus County.
Police said Reggina Jefferies, a guest at the memorial service at Venue Oakland, was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where she died a short time later. Police originally said she was 16. Three other victims, possibly in their 20s, who were shot, were taken to the hospital in stable condition, according to Oakland Police Lt. Carlos Gonzalez.
The shooting occurred just after 6 p.m. The service had about 3,000 attendees, a larger turnout than expected, and many guests spilled onto 13th and Franklin streets outside of the Golden Lotus Vegetarian restaurant, according to Venue Oakland securtiy guard Oscar Edwards. A lot of teens were hanging outside, all dressed in white.
The guests were there to mourn the death of two 15-year-old boys, Josiah Pratt Rose and Jamari Wilson. Both drowned in a Stanislaus County reservoir last month; neither had been wearing life jackets when they jumped off a boat to go swimming. Jamari attended Skyline High School, and Josiah had attended Street Academy, both in Oakland.
Witnesses said there was some sort of fight in the street moments before two men were seen shooting into a crowd. The suspects then fled, police said. One witness told the San Francisco Chronicle that the argument erupted among a group of men playing dice, and the vigil guests were caught in the crossfire.
"I heard several shots, probably six in a row," Joyce Mitch said. "Then I saw a bunch of kids running."
