Seven men were shot on an East Oakland street early Monday evening, causing the police chief of the city to decry the violence and ask for the public's help in finding the shooters.
"This is really kind of outrageous," Oakland police Chief Sean Whent told the Oakland Tribune after arriving at the scene. "Six o'clock at night isn't that late at night. (There were) a fair number of rounds fired out here, so (this is) really pretty brazen stuff on the street corner at that time of day."
Whent told the newspaper he was unsure at this point if all were the intended targets, or if some of the victims - all men between the ages of 23 and 31 - were innocent bystanders.
As of Tuesday morning, one of the men was still in critical condition and six were in stable condition at both Highland Hospital in Oakland and Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. They all were expected to live.
MORE: Aerial View of Shooting Scene in East Oakland
Still, the number of gunshots fired - and right about dinnertime - had many people on edge.
Police Officer Johnna Watson said the city's ShotSpotter system and multiple phone calls of shots fired near the corner of 96th Avenue and Olive Street sent police scrambling to the intersection just after 6:08 p.m.
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Officers found multiple victims in the sidewalk area there, and more victims turned up at a hospital a short time later.
No motive has been established and no suspects have been arrested.
Watson said police believe that people in the area witnessed the shooting and are urging anyone with information to contact Oakland police by texting TIP OAKLANDPD to 888777 from your cell phone or call the toll-free tip hotline at 855-TIPS-247 (855-847-7247).
