Last night, Peralta's chancellor, Tammeil Gilkerson, sent an email to all employees addressing the shooting and concerns about Beam's condition. "I understand that this news is shocking and upsetting to many," Gilkerson wrote. "Moreover, numerous news reports and rumors are circulating. I hope you'll join me in sending positive thoughts to John and his family, and in supporting colleagues and students who may be impacted."
He had the job for two years from 2021 to February of 2023. That's when then-Mayor Sheng Thao fired him, citing an investigation that found he'd mishandled two misconduct cases. An independent arbitrator cleared him of those accusations. Armstrong replaced interim Chief Susan Manheimer, who replaced Anne Kirkpatrick, Oakland's first female police chief in 2017. She was on the job for three years and was fired in 2020 for reporting alleged misconduct.
A man who was found dead on the Bridgeview Trail in Oakland's Oakmore neighborhood died by suicide, the Alameda County Coroner's determined after an investigation. The 36-year-old man, who The Oaklandside is not identifying, was found unresponsive by a parkgoer on June 30 just off the popular trail, which winds along a hillside above Sausal Creek in Dimond Canyon. Oakland police, firefighters, and paramedics with Falck responded to the scene and cut the man down from a tree, according to police records.
Gunshots were reported around 5 p.m. in the 700 block of 17th Street, according to the Oakland Police Department. Officers arrived to find a person suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Medical personnel pronounced the victim dead at the scene. Police did not publicly identify the person.
