[If you get a chance, read up on the back story of Patrick McCullough.]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/22/BAO5109V45.DTL&tsp=1Burglar shot: 'We're going to defend ourselves,' neighbor says
Marisa Lagos,Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
(04-22) 14:20 PDT Oakland - --
A North Oakland resident shot and critically injured a suspected burglar this morning in the resident's home, police said, the third time in a week that a would-be crime victim in the city has fought back with gunfire.
The shooting happened about 8 a.m. in a home on the 600 block of 59th Street near Shattuck Avenue, police spokesman Officer Roland Holmgren said. Police did not immediately release the name of the suspect or the resident.
Today's shooting took place a block from where 59th Street resident Patrick McCullough shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy outside his home in February 2005 after 15 young men surrounded him in his front yard, shouting, "Kill the snitch." The shooting capped a series of confrontations between McCullough and young men who police believed were drug dealers.
"We're going to defend ourselves by any means necessary," said McCullough, who is running for Oakland City Council, said after today's shooting. He was not home at the time of the shooting but said he returned quickly after receiving a call from his alarmed wife.
He said residents and businesses need to arm and defend themselves because Oakland lacks enough police officers and effective anti-crime programs, including productive opportunities for young people.
"It shows crime is out control and that the people in charge of bringing crime under control are not doing their job," he said.
On Saturday night, an armed man who tried to rob Ed's Liquors on 23rd Avenue in East Oakland was shot three times and wounded by the store owner, who also was wounded in the leg in an exchange of gunfire, police said. Two days before that, a clerk at Wah Fay 8th Avenue Corner Market shot and wounded and 18-year-old Pittsburg man who allegedly tried to rob the store.
Based on descriptions from 59th Street neighbors, McCullough said he recognizes the wounded burglary suspect as someone he has seen hanging out on the street and staying at a house that has been the target of complaints about drug-dealing and other criminal activity.
A man at a home close to the house where the burglary suspect was shot said drug-dealing occurs continuously on the street.
"They do drugs all day long," said the man, who asked not to be identified to avoid potential retribution. "It's really, really bad."
He said many problems seem concentrated around Klippers barber shop around the corner on Shattuck Avenue where one night two weeks ago he heard between 17 and 20 gunshots, followed by three men fleeing on foot and attempting to run between houses on the street.
No one answered a reporter's knock this afternoon at the two-story house where the shooting occurred.
