'Emotions are high': Oakland mayor says stress is playing a role in city's homicide spike
There have been 13 homicides in Oakland since the start of 2021, compared to only one at this point last year.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf says the city is working to deal with a spike in homicides with more than a dozen seen this year so far.
There have been 13 homicides in Oakland since the start of 2021, compared to only one at this point last year.
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ABC7 News asked the mayor what's being done to address the problem.
"We recognize that people are really stressed out, emotions are high. We're seeing other kinds, like road rage violence, that we believe is caused by overall stress," Schaaf said.
The mayor also blames more powerful weapons for increasing Oakland's homicide rate.
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"We are seeing more and more powerful guns on our streets than we have ever seen before," Schaaf said. "We have a great partnership with the federal government to do that gun tracing that is also yielding a lot of effective intelligence so we can start holding people accountable, removing the most dangerous people off of our streets, and then also creating conditions of safety so people don't have to resort to violence to solve their disputes."
The mayor says Oakland's ceasefire team already met several times this year.
The group consists of members from law enforcement, social service and the community. It's focused on reducing gang and group-related homicides and shootings.
