Two homicides within three hours over holiday weekend
on July 3, 2011
The Oakland Police Department has released information concerning two separate homicides that occurred within a few hours of each other over the Fourth of July weekend.
On Friday, July 1, at approximately 10 pm, police officers were called to the 6200 block of Avenal Avenue in East Oakland to investigate the shooting of 30-year-old Oakland resident Russell Therman Jr. According to the OPD’s press release, homicide investigators believe that Therman was shot by two young men who approached Therman on foot as he stood on the street with a group of people; both fired into the group and then were picked up by a car that drove off towards International Boulevard. Both men are described as African American males in their early twenties, and the car is light blue. The motive for this shooting is still being investigated.
In a separate incident a few hours later, at approximately 1 am Saturday morning, an argument at a motorcycle club party on the 5700 block of International Boulevard turned violent with the shooting of a man attending the party. The man’s identity has not been released pending the notification of his family members.
These are the city’s 52nd and 53rd homicides of the year. Anyone with information regarding either incident is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821.
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