Community Demands Change After Fremont Boy Killed in Oakland Freeway Shooting
By Marianne Favro
Jasper Wu of Fremont was just a few weeks away from celebrating his 2nd birthday.
Instead, his family is planning his funeral after the boy was shot while in a car on southbound I-880 in Oakland Saturday afternoon.
Instead, his family is planning his funeral after the boy was shot while in a car on southbound I-880 in Oakland Saturday afternoon.
The boy’s mother was driving the family back home from San Francisco. Jasper was in a car seat when police say a stray bullet struck him in the head.
NBC Bay Area learned Sunday night that Wu’s father is on his way to the Bay Area from China.
Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce president Carl Chan, who spoke with the boy’s mother said she told him the father had never met his son because of COVID-19 restrictions.
“It’s horrible to imagine this family having a nice day and then the bullet hit the baby. It’s unimaginable,” Chan said.
Chan told NBC Bay Area that he is helping provide assistance to the family and is also calling for change. He said that he wants more CHP patrols on Bay area highways.
“I think this tragedy is a turning point it can’t just be a child victim we could all become victims anyone of us and we need to make a change now,” he said.
Other community activists are echoing the need to do more.
“This awful tragedy reinforces the need for immediate and intentional action. We don’t even have time to catch our breath, just since this tragic incident there has been yet another homicide in Oakland. We just go from one incident to the next, one tragedy to the next, one trauma to the next and it’s not sustainable. We need to address violence holistically, and we need to address it now, and we need to address it as the public health crisis that it is.” said Dr. Noha Aboelata of the Roots Community Health.
Detectives said they don’t believe the family was targeted.
Investigators are asking anyone with information to come forward.
