OAKLAND — A 43-year-old man was fatally shot early Saturday at a West Oakland tiny home community for unhoused residents, authorities said.
The man’s name has not been released. Police said he had lived at the site for the past few months.
The shooting happened about 3:21 a.m. Saturday at the complex in the 300 block of Peralta Street, which is behind the main post office and next to Interstate 880 in West Oakland.
Police said the man was found shot outside. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.
A motive for the killing is under investigation. No arrests have been made.
The Oakland-based nonprofit Housing Consortium of the East Bay, which manages the Peralta Street site, declined to comment on the shooting and directed questions to the city.
“I’m very sorry to hear this news, and (our) hearts go out to the victim’s family, friends and neighbors at the shelter, and staff,” said city spokeswoman Karen Boyd. “It’s a very difficult moment.”
The city-funded tiny home site, which opened in December 2021, provides temporary shelter for about 40 homeless residents while they search for permanent housing. The program is part of a growing trend — cities in the Bay Area and beyond increasingly are building tiny homes for homeless residents instead of traditional dorm-style shelters, as advocates say tiny homes give residents more privacy and dignity, and are safer.
At the Peralta Street site, residents live in small, rudimentary fiberglass structures manufactured by the Washington-based company Pallet. It’s the second Pallet shelter site the city has opened, following one next to Lake Merritt. Oakland also operates four similar “cabin communities” for homeless residents.
The killing at the Peralta Street site, where residents call their community the “Survivors of the Underground,” is not the first tragedy to take place at an Oakland tiny home site. In April, a security guard was shot and killed while working the night shift at a cabin community on Mandela Parkway in West Oakland. The guard, 37-year-old Barry Murphy, was in his car outside the site when he was killed.
In March, a fire at the Lake Merritt Pallet shelter site destroyed three tiny homes and damaged a fourth. Residents were forced to flee for their lives as their walls melted. The Oakland Fire Department determined the tiny homes had been set up too close together, allowing the fire to spread. Six months after the fire, site managers were in the process of spacing the dwellings farther apart.
The Peralta Street killing is the 113th homicide investigated by Oakland police this year. The California Highway Patrol has also investigated six homicides on Oakland freeways. Last year at this time Oakland police had investigated 128 homicides in the city.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
Source: www.mercurynews.com