Pat Dollard

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SFGate:

A young man was fatally shot Thursday evening just yards from the Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall. And before the ambulance had even pulled away, people were debating whether the killing was somehow linked to the month-old gathering.

The man, whom several Occupy campers said they did not recognize, was shot in the head at about 5 p.m. outside a BART station exit in Frank Ogawa Plaza, at 14th Street and Broadway. He was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where he was pronounced dead, said interim Police Chief Howard Jordan.

Jordan – speaking to reporters over protesters who shouted, “This is not Occupy Oakland” – said two groups of people had gotten into a fight that ended when someone pulled out a gun and fired. Witnesses said they heard four to six shots, and saw several young men flee. No arrests have been made, and the dead man’s name has not been released.

The shooting happened in a busy section of downtown Oakland adjacent to the Occupy an encampment where drug use is prevalent, and where devoted protesters have increasingly struggled to control fights and robberies and deal with mentally ill homeless people.

Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, who has repeatedly called for the camp’s removal, said, “Unfortunately, we will have no excuse for not taking action. This was escalating and was going to happen.”

Mayor Jean Quan held a news conference and announced that the city was planning, once again, to remove the Occupy camp.

“The risks are too great for having an encampment out there,” Quan said. “It’s time for the encampment to end.”

But in the plaza amphitheatre, dozens of people gathered after the shooting out of concern that it would be cited as another reason to tear down the camp. One speaker, whose words were then repeated and amplified by the group, said, “I live in Oakland, and this is a daily occurrence.”

Later, protesters – who had planned to celebrate the camp’s one-month anniversary – instead lighted candles for the victim and settled in for a night of music and presentations.

The motive behind the shooting remains unclear. Protester Khalid Shakur, 43, said two men had fought Wednesday, with the loser returning Thursday with friends. Shakur said he had told the group to stay away from the businesses in the plaza, but that he soon heard the gunshots.

Nathan Stalnaker, 29, of Oakland, said he had seen several young men surrounding the victim on the ground, kicking and punching him as he tried to shield his face from the blows. People from the camp tried to break up the fight before the gun was pulled, Stalnaker said.

Camp medics were the first on the scene, according to protesters. After the shooting, a number of people from the camp stood in a line and locked their arms, trying to keep onlookers away as Oakland firefighters could tend to the victim.

Critics of the encampment soon said the question of whether the dead man or the killers were protesters was irrelevant.

“This camp is attracting an element that’s adding to the problem that already exists,” said City Council President Larry Reid, one of five council members who held a news conference Wednesday calling for the camp’s removal.

But 35-year-old activist Shake Anderson said, “What happened was the result of neighborhood violence. Don’t forget, we’re in downtown Oakland.”

Shortly after the shooting, KGO-TV cameraman Randy Davis was punched in the back of the head by someone who objected to his filming the scene. Davis said he believed he suffered a concussion.

The plaza has been darker in recent days. Jordan said several nearby electrical breakers tripped, but many protesters believe the city turned off the lights to make the plaza less hospitable

“They’re going to come back on,” Jordan said. “We need to have better lighting here.”

Earlier Thursday, De La Fuente said he intends to seek a no-confidence vote in Mayor Jean Quan for her handling of the Occupy Oakland camp.

The vote would be largely symbolic, but De La Fuente said it was one of the few ways the council could apply pressure on Quan.

“She has screwed up this situation so bad, the city is suffering the consequences,” said De La Fuente, Quan’s most frequent critic on the council. “There is no confidence in this mayor to take action, because she can’t.”

The mayor said earlier Thursday that half of those in the 180-tent encampment are homeless. After Wednesday night’s Occupy general assembly, Quan said, some campers said they couldn’t remain. She did not elaborate.

Quan said “some people are and some people aren’t” open to the idea of leaving the camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza. “That’s going to be an ongoing dialogue. I can’t talk much about what we’re doing.”

News of the possible no-confidence vote came as the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce released a poll of Oakland voters showing that 73 percent of respondents disapproved of Quan’s handling of the camp.

The chamber itself has been strongly critical of the camp, saying it is hurting business.

The phone survey of 1,100 likely voters, taken Tuesday and Wednesday, also found that 37 percent of respondents said they were less likely to go downtown because of the camp.