Demonstrators have called for “full transparency” by Oakland police after officers fatally shot a suspect for the third time this year.
The latest came Monday afternoon when police killed an allegedly armed suspect in the Fruitvale neighborhood of East Oakland.
“From 2015 to 2025, OPD killed three people. This year alone, OPD has already killed three people,” said Cat Brooks, co-founder and executive director of the Anti Police-Terror Project.
The shooting happened just after 2 p.m. in the 4000 block of International Boulevard, where the California Highway Patrol had called for assistance, according to the Oakland Police Department.
Community organizations and advocates rallied Friday outside police headquarters to demand release of the full timeline, body-worn camera footage, dispatch audio and other details related to the death.
“OPD has already shifted its public narrative, first saying the man lunged at officers, then saying he attacked officers, and now stating he had a bladed object,” the Anti Police-Terror Project said in a statement.
“OPD has also said no officers or bystanders were injured, raising urgent questions about whether deadly force was justified,” according to the statement.
Police said the suspect didn’t comply with commands but allegedly lunged at officers with a weapon. Officers used both less lethal and lethal force, police said.
Police didn’t release the suspect’s name or describe the alleged weapon at a press conference Monday near the scene led by new Police Chief James Beere.
Demonstrators said the killing raised questions about whether the department is prepared to operate without federal oversight. OPD has been under federal monitoring for more than 20 years; it is scheduled to end later this year.
“If this man was in crisis, if he was unhoused, if he needed help, why was the response armed police and not care?” said Bria Woodland, program coordinator of All Youth Are Sacred. “We need systems that protect life, not systems that escalate and end it.”