Oakland police say they will increase their presence Saturday and close the streets around Lake Merritt for Lakefest shootings during Wednesday’s Juneteenth festivities which injured 15 people.
“The Oakland Police Department will have an increased presence of officers, traffic posts and enforcement around Lake Merritt tomorrow in support of the Lakefest Oakland event,” spokesman Paul Chambers said in a news release Friday.
The all-day, family-friendly event along the Lake Merritt shoreline begins at 11 a.m. and runs until 7 p.m. Last year the event attracted more than 20,000 visitors. More information can be found on the Lakefest website.
The department also announced it would close six roads around the park from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“As you can see from the edge, we closed down the entire park,” LakeFest founder Trevel Adanandus told KPIX on Friday.
“We will have a fully detailed OPD, starting with 50 officers here. People would come here, bags will be searched, strollers – everything to make sure everyone is safe,” Adanandus added.
Wednesday’s shootings followed fighting which broke out after stunt driving, known as a sideshow, took over intersections.
During the sideshow, someone walked on the hood of a vehicle, prompting several people to get out of the car and “violently attack” the person, Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said Thursday.
Shayla Jamerson, co-producer of LakeFest, noted that there had been no violent incidents in the past four years.
“This is the first year we’re closing LakeFest. In the last four years there have been no gates, so think about that. It was peaceful. Twenty thousand people without gates, just walking around and, This year we wanted to add gates to crowd control and that was our plan even before the incident,” Jamerson said.
Since the shooting, at least five vendors have decided to withdraw. Organizers took to social media to share the enhanced safety measures in advance.
Some locals, like Steven Summers, believe the increased security is a good move. Summers, who has lived in Oakland since 2009 and previously attended LakeFest, felt reassured by the new measures.
“I think what happened the other day was ad hoc – a pop-up of sorts – a lot of illegal activity, so this environment will be much more controlled, so I think we should be fine,” he said.
Adanandus said he wanted people to remember the festival as a lively celebration with a variety of vendors, music and activities.
“I bring my kids here every year. There aren’t many places where I take my kids and take my eyes off them, so they come, I tell them to come back in 30 minutes and I let them wander. there is a lot of security and this is like a family picnic,” Adanandus said.
Says the police 16 people were hospitalized – 15 of them with gunshot wounds – and one person was arrested after the outbreak of violence.
Several fights broke out along Grand Avenue between Euclid and Bellevue avenues. These streets are among those closed by police on Saturday:
— Bellevue Avenue from Grand Avenue to Perkins St (Lakefest location)
— Perkin Avenue from Grand Avenue to Bellevue Avenue
— Ellita Avenue from Grand Avenue to Bellevue Avenue
–Staten Avenue from Grand Avenue to Bellevue Avenue
— Bellevue Avenue from Perkins Street to Grand Avenue
— El Embarcadero from Grand Avenue to Lakeshore Avenue
Several police officers were assaulted during Wednesday’s violence. The Oakland Police Officers Association blamed understaffing in the department.
Mitchell and Deputy Chief James Beere said there were 100 officers on patrol Wednesday evening, 30 of whom were at the lake.
