OAKLAND — Police here have identified the city’s first homicide victim of 2024 as a young man who was shot during a fight at a sideshow early in the morning on Jan. 1.
Julian Barajas-Lopez, 19, was shot and killed just five hours and 13 minutes into the new year on the 1900 block of 36th Avenue in Oakland, police said. Police say he was watching a sideshow in the area when a fight broke out, and at least one person fired several shots in the crowd, striking Barajas-Lopez in the back.
Police haven’t said whether Barajas-Lopez was the intended target of the shooting or simply a bystander. He was there watching the sideshow near Foothill Boulevard and pronounced dead within 20 minutes of the shooting, authorities said.
Police haven’t announced any arrests.
Barajas-Lopez’s death came after three other unrelated nonfatal shootings throughout Oakland, the first of which was reported at 12:31 a.m. The city had 126 reported homicides in 2023.
Police say anyone with information about this incident can contact them at 510-238-3821 or the TIP LINE at 510-238-7950.
