At a press conference today, the Oakland Police Department provided fresh details on a Nov. 12 shooting at Skyline High School. The incident sent the school into lockdown for the third time this school year.
OPD Assistant Chief James Beere said that the 15-year-old shooting victim is recovering and “in good spirits.” He said officers got to the campus within two minutes and were able to provide life-saving medical assistance to him until paramedics arrived.
Two suspects have been arrested in the shooting and charged by the Alameda County District Attorney, Beere said, and both remain in custody. He said both suspects had firearms, and said that both of the weapons were so-called ghost guns, untraceable weapons assembled through kits or unfinished components. An OPD spokesperson later confirmed that both of the suspects are juveniles themselves.
Asked about the nature of the charges, the DA’s office referred us to the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center, which did not immediately respond to a query.
“I want to take a moment to acknowledge the strong coordination between Skyline High School staff and our officers,” Beere said. “The prompt coordination and cooperation assured the safety for all students on campus, allowing our officers to respond swiftly and effectively.”
Rebecca Huang, Skyline’s principal, sent a message to the school community on Thursday, the day after the shooting, saying, “We remain vigilant and committed to working together to make Skyline a place where every student feels safe, supported, and connected. We’re continuing to collaborate with the District to identify and put in place additional measures that further enhance campus safety,” including upgrading security cameras and expanding the school’s security team.
She has invited Skyline families to a town meeting with school leaders, school district officials, and OPD officers next week to discuss their concerns.
Wednesday’s lockdown was the third of the school year for students at Skyline, a large public high school in the Oakland hills. On Sept. 26, students were sent into secure protocol when OPD responded to a report of a student on campus with a firearm; that report was determined to be false. Then on Nov. 4, students were put into secure protocol a second time as, Skyline said, the school’s security team was seeking to remove “an upset parent on campus.”
Skyline has experienced a number of violent incidents in the last few years, including a stabbing that injured a student in 2022, a shooting in 2023 with no apparent victims, and a shooting after graduation in 2024 that injured three people.
According to an email from the Oakland Unified School District, students from Skyline and nine other high schools were on a “college and career exploration” field trip at Laney College when Laney’s athletic director, John Beam, was shot yesterday, forcing the students in attendance into yet another lockdown.
“As soon as they learned of the lockdown, OUSD chaperones moved our students to a safe location where they sheltered in place,” the email read. “The lockdown lasted about 45 minutes before Oakland Police gave the all-clear.”
Denise Saddler, OUSD’s interim superintendent, released a statement today mourning Beam’s loss and saying, “As we continue to investigate the incident at Skyline, we are looking for ways to improve our security protocols. At the same time, we are providing behavioral health support to Skyline’s students and staff. This has been a trying time for the school community, and we stand ready to offer whatever assistance they need.”
“Lastly,” she added, “I would be remiss if I didn’t say this: as a community and a country, we must once and for all get a handle on gun violence. We must make it harder to get guns, and harder to choose to use guns.”
She pledged to work with leaders at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure that proper gun laws are put in place.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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