Three men were wounded in a drive-by shooting near 71st Avenue and International Boulevard in East Oakland on Monday, authorities said, and all three are listed in stable condition. The men, ages 19, 22 and 36, were reportedly standing outside together when a person in a passing vehicle opened fire, according to initial police reports.
The shooting was first reported by The Mercury News, which said police believe the three men know each other, though investigators had not determined whether all three were intended targets or whether only some of them were meant to be hit. Initial police reports indicated the vehicle involved may have been a Jeep, though that detail has not been confirmed.
Authorities said the wounded men live in Oakland and made their own way to the hospital before officers arrived at the scene, complicating the early investigation. The men were reportedly not fully cooperative with officers seeking details about what happened, and no detailed description of the shooter has been released.
Motive Still Unclear as Investigation Continues
The motive behind Monday's shooting remains under investigation, per the same account, and no arrests had been announced as of the report. Anyone with information has been asked to contact investigators at 510-238-3426.
The intersection sits along a corridor that has drawn repeated police attention this year. A Hoodline report from earlier this year noted that the 7000 block of International Boulevard lies along a stretch that has seen multiple shootings and homicides in recent months. In that February incident, a 61-year-old man was shot in the foot while leaving a shop on that same block; investigators believed he was not the intended target and that the gunfire stemmed from a dispute involving other people, though no link to Monday's shooting has been established.
Just blocks away, Oakland police said in October they arrested someone in connection with a separate Oct. 19 robbery and shooting, according to CBS News. Officers spotted the suspect the next day near the 800 block of 71st Avenue, and police said he ran and discarded an AR-style pistol before being arrested near the 1300 block of 76th Avenue on multiple felony charges. That case, too, has not been tied to Monday's shooting.
Gun Violence Trends Mixed Across the City
Oakland has also seen gun violence elsewhere this year. In August, two men were shot multiple times in a separate drive-by shooting in West Oakland near Filbert and Eighth streets, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Police said that gunfire may have involved multiple shooters, and dozens of shell casings were found at the scene along with damage to a nearby building. Both victims were reported in stable condition, and as of the following morning, police had announced no arrests and released no information about possible suspects.
The citywide picture, meanwhile, had shown signs of improvement earlier in the year. Oakland's violent crime, including homicide and rape, was down 22% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, and homicides alone had fallen 39%, according to city figures reported by KQED. That reporting attributed part of the decline to targeted policing strategies and focused deterrence efforts that concentrate resources on individuals and groups most likely to be involved in violence, though KQED noted the full reasons behind the drop remain unclear. A City of Oakland release separately touted a 49% drop in homicides and shootings since 2023, while warning that funding losses now threaten that progress.
None of that broader data explains what happened near 71st and International on Monday, and police have not said whether the shooting fits any identified pattern. For now, the case remains open, with the motive and the question of who was targeted still unresolved.
