OAKLAND — A man was charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a gun into a vehicle that was occupied by six people on Saturday in East Oakland, injuring a 13-year-old boy, authorities said.
Kamani Jermaine Taylor, 26, was also charged Tuesday with six counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, shooting at an occupied vehicle, shooting at an unoccupied vehicle and child abuse, according to a news release from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. He also faces two misdemeanor charges of brandishing a firearm.
Around 3:17 p.m. on Saturday, the family had been driving its SUV southbound on the 1200 block of 78th Avenue when Taylor began shooting at their car, police said. The vehicle was occupied by two adults and four children, including a four-year-old girl and two-year-old boy.
The boy who was injured was treated at a hospital and released the same day, authorities said. No one else was injured.
Witnesses told police where Taylor had fled to and police arrested him a short distance away, authorities added.
After his arrest Taylor allegedly admitted to investigators he shot at the vehicle, authorities said. But he could not explain exactly why, except to say he though for some reason the occupants posed a threat to him, authorities said. Police said the family targeted in the shooting does not know Taylor.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday and is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.