A 19-year-old suspected member of a West Oakland gang has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting a local rapper near 40th Street and Telegraph Avenue in May, then trying to intimidate the man accused of driving him to and from the scene. Aries Campbell pleaded not guilty to five felony counts, including attempted murder, unlawful firearm activity and dissuading witnesses.
According to The Mercury News, authorities allege Campbell shot an Oakland rapper known as Judown3x on May 14. The rapper drove himself to a hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound and, according to court records, never identified his attacker to investigators. The shooting was captured on surveillance footage, and police say Judown3x was known for taunting members of rival gangs.
Police identify Campbell as a member of a gang based out of Oakland's Campbell Village apartments. The complex at Eighth and Campbell streets was established as the Oakland Housing Authority's first public housing development following the Housing Act of 1937, a 154-unit residence built to house wartime industrial workers, according to the Oakland Housing Authority.
A Rap Feud Playing Out on Camera and in Court
Authorities allege Judown3x is known to associate with members of the West Oakland-based Ghost Town gang and that he posted videos taunting rivals in the area, with some of that footage allegedly filmed in Campbell Village gang territory. That online friction sits against a backdrop of recent federal pressure on Ghost Town: nine members of the gang were sentenced in February to a combined 709 months in prison following a multi-agency investigation into an armed robbery spree, as Hoodline reported in a story on the Ghost Town sentencing.
Court records cited by the Mercury News show police tracked the suspects' vehicle, a Hyundai, using license plate readers after it traveled to Vallejo and then to Merced. The Hyundai was reportedly fitted with a tracking device, and investigators say the vehicle was registered to the suspected driver, a 19-year-old man. Oakland police have described operating a Real-Time Operation Center that centralizes license plate reader alerts alongside dispatch and radio feeds to quickly route leads to field investigators, a workflow the department presented at a national crime center conference, according to Police1. That tracking capability is part of a broader regional surveillance expansion; in 2024 the California Highway Patrol agreed to install 290 automated license plate readers across Oakland, according to the Atlas of Surveillance.
Arrests and Charges Still Unfolding
Police arrested the suspected driver in Antioch in July, though court records show he has not been charged with any crime. Campbell was arrested on September 4 on the 800 block of Willow Street and is being held at Santa Rita Jail without bail. Court records indicate police found video showing Campbell getting into the Hyundai's passenger door on the 900 block of Willow Street minutes before the shooting, a stretch of street the records describe as an alleged gang stronghold. Court records also allege Campbell attempted to intimidate the man accused of driving him to and from the shooting location.
Campbell has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on December 1, records show. The gang enhancement attached to the case, under Penal Code Section 186.22, adds a mandatory minimum 15-year parole eligibility term or consecutive state prison time for a violent felony committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang, per Wallin & Klarich.
A Broader Decline in Oakland Gun Violence
The case lands amid a broader downturn in Oakland violence. The city recorded 67 homicides in 2025, its lowest annual total in decades, with officials crediting targeted violence prevention programs and enhanced surveillance technology, per KQED. The Oakland Police Department reported a further 22% decrease in overall violent crime during the first quarter of 2026 and recovered more than 310 firearms citywide as part of a targeted 90-day crime reduction plan focused on armed robberies and gang-related shootings.
