Argument Led To Shooting That Injured 3 After Oakland Graduation, Police Say

Updated 1:05 p.m. Friday

One suspect was arrested, and more are being sought after a shooting that left three people injured following a graduation ceremony at Skyline High School in Oakland on Thursday night, police said.

The shooting took place after the graduation had ended and many students, family and staff members had left campus, Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said in a statement on Friday.

As the graduation was ending, two groups of people began arguing in the parking lot, a dispute that escalated to gunfire around 7:45 p.m., according to an Oakland Police Department statement on Friday.

Johnson-Trammell said school and district staffers responded immediately to “take control” of the situation until police arrived.

Police arrived to find a man and a woman with gunshot wounds, Oakland police Lt. Robert Trevino said Thursday evening. The victims were taken to hospitals.

On Friday morning, OPD reported identifying a third shooting victim who transported themselves to a hospital. All three victims are expected to survive, according to OPD.

Multiple people were detained after the event, and OPD said one was arrested.

Police are looking for additional suspects and witnesses.

“We do know there were multiple suspects, but we’re trying to identify exactly how many,” Trevino said.

Oakland Unified dispatched behavioral health staffers to campus on Friday to offer support to students, teachers and staff.

“Our schools are among the safest places to be in the City,” Johnson-Trammell said. “There is never any place for violence within or around them. As a community, we must not tolerate violence and instead work together to eliminate it in Oakland.”

Additional safety measures will be put in place for the district’s remaining graduations, she said.