Homeowner arrested in suspected burglary-turned-killing in Oakland

OAKLAND — A 77-year-old homeowner was jailed early Tuesday after allegedly shooting and killing one of three burglary suspects at his East Oakland home, authorities said.

The man was held without bail on suspicion of murder in the Monday evening killing at a house on the corner of 98th Avenue and Burr Street, according to Santa Rita County Jail records. As of Wednesday morning, the man remained in custody and Alameda County prosecutors had yet to file any charges in the case.

Oakland police were called shortly before 6 p.m. Monday after a witness saw two men and a woman — at least one of whom was armed with a crowbar — breaking into the man’s house, according to authorities.

When police arrived, they found the homeowner pointing a gun at one person, while a man lay wounded just inside the back fenceline, authorities said. Paramedics later pronounced him dead. A third suspected burglar, who was holding a replica gun, was also found by officers on the property, according to police.

Later Tuesday, investigators continued to visit the intersection of 98th Avenue and Burr Street to collect evidence. A wooden gate outside the house was broken off its hinges and resting on a nearby fence.

Inside the property line, a concrete sidewalk could be seen covered in what appeared to be pools of dried blood, all roughly 10 feet from a door to the house. A couple of plastic medical gloves lay strewn on the ground.

The fatal shooting marked the fourth killing in Oakland within an 18-hour stretch on Monday. The other three people shot were all teenagers, ages 16, 17 and 18.

The unrelated killings brought the number of deaths that Oakland police have investigated as homicides this year to 41. That’s about five fewer homicides than this same point in 2023 — mirroring a trend across Oakland of declining crime rates.

Check back for more information to this developing story.