OPD officer to be assigned to all pee wee football games, practices after shooting at school field

ByJ.R. Stone and Lena Howland KGO logo

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

OPD officer to be assigned to youth football games after shooting

OPD Chief LeRonne Armstrong says a uniform officer will be at home pee wee football games and practices after three people were shot at Oakland Tech.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- One day after a 6-year-old girl and two others were shot at a pee wee football game in Oakland, changes are being made.

The police chief says a uniform officer will now be at home games and practices.

Kids of all ages could be seen throwing around the football just one day after gunfire erupted at their Oakland Dynamites pee wee football game at Oakland Tech High School, leading to a scene of chaos.

"I had to grab her and get her on my chest and start running down the stairs and as soon as I hit the stairs bullets were flying," said Crystal Clark referring to her 4-year-old daughter who was with her at the time.

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A 6-year-old girl was shot and injured along with a man and woman. Police say they believe multiple shooters were involved.

Monday evening, a prayer circle was held with dozens of Oakland parents side by side with their kids. Parents who are praying for safer times but who voiced their hopes for city funded security.

"It seems that the city would be willing to help us fund something like that to keep these kids safe," said one woman.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong making changes and saying that an officer will be on hand for all Oakland Dynamites' practices and games while making a plea to those who fired shots.

"Don't do this to these children because we don't need to see another child dead, another child shot. I got a 6-year-old in the hospital, she shouldn't be there," said Chief Armstrong.

"That makes me feel a lot more comfortable. It just makes me feel like it will change, it will make people think twice before they follow through with any situation like yesterday's," said Clark.

While circumstances of the shooting haven't been released, Dynamites president Walte Orr, or 'Coach Chewy' as he's called, doesn't believe this was any sort of back and forth with the visiting Fresno Valley Boys.

"I don't think the team we were playing had anything to do with what happened," said Orr.

He said it was "street beef" that spilled onto the field on Sunday.

However, this wasn't the first time this happened.

Oakland Police say a man was killed in front of kids at an Oakland Dynamites practice last February.

"A father is watching his sons participate in pee-wee football practice and an assailant walked into the practice area and fired rounds, fatally injuring the father," said Chief LeRonne Armstrong of the Oakland Police Department in a Feb. 2021 interview with ABC7.

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After that incident, Oakland Police provided security at games for the rest of the year until the end of the season.

Chief Armstrong is begging for those with information to come forward, saying these shooters not only broke the law, but they broke a street code.

"I come from this community, there has always been rules to the game. This is a break in the rules, coming onto these fields, coming to these kids games and shooting, it's against the rules," said Armstrong.

Going forward there will be no in and out privileges at games. An officer will also help in making sure all attendees are checked with a metal detector wand.

Oakland police are offering a $15,000 reward for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the shooter or shooters in the case.