OAKLAND, Calif. ? Police on Tuesday searched for multiple suspects who opened fire into a group of people recording a rap music video in a parking lot and wounded seven, including a toddler and two adults who were critically hurt.
The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Monday as about 20 people gathered outside a liquor store near Interstate 880 in west Oakland, police said. The victims were transported to local hospitals by others at the scene before officers arrived.
Police Chief Howard Jordan said a man, a woman and a 1-year-old boy were critically injured. The rest of the victims ? all males ? sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Police initially reported a total of eight people shot but revised that number Tuesday. They were still investigating a motive.
"This was a pretty heinous act that took place in our city. I'm outraged by this senseless act of violence," Jordan said, asking any witnesses to come forward with information. "This should not be tolerated by this community."
A surveillance camera at State Market Liquors captured parts of the shooting, including three people wearing hooded sweat shirts firing from around the corner of the store.
On Tuesday, bullet holes riddled the liquor store's exterior and two cars still parked outside had shattered windows and flat tires from bullets.
The store's co-owner, Salah Abdullah, was inside the business when the shooting occurred. He said the group outside was using small cameras to record the music video. Some were posing with liquor bottles outside the store entrance when gunfire erupted, sending Abdullah ducking for cover.
"Everybody was scared," Abdullah said, estimating he heard about 50 shots. "There was yelling and screaming from inside and outside the store."
Larry White, 35, said he was entering his apartment across the street from the store when the shooting happened. After the gunfire subsided, he said he saw a car speeding away from the scene and a man holding a little boy who was bleeding from the head.
"I hope everybody is all right, especially that little man," White said.
KGO-TV reported the 1-year-old was shot while his father was holding him. The father was shot in the hand.
Relatives of the toddler who gathered at Children's Hospital Oakland on Tuesday declined to speak with reporters. The hospital would not release any information about the child; however, KTVU-TV reported he remained in critical condition after undergoing surgery to relieve swelling on his brain.
A promotions van for a local rapper who goes by the name Kafani was seen in the parking lot at the time of the shooting, but the rapper denied being at the scene. He posted to Twitter on Tuesday that he had not been shot, but asked followers to pray for his little cousin.
"I don't know whether they were shooting a video, or if the video was finished or what. I don't know anything about that. I was at the studio," Kafani told KGO-TV (http://bit.ly/tPCMtR). "All I know was I started getting twits that I was shot or something like that, and it was going crazy."
Kafani did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Police at a news conference Tuesday would not say whether the video being recorded was Kafani's. However, Sgt. Randy Wingate said investigators "don't think that Kafani has any significance in this case."
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