NBC sports crew robbed at gunpoint in Oakland, California

Three people with firearms confronted the group and stole a camera from their vehicle

Jack London Square, Oakland (Google Maps)

An NBC sports crew on assignment in Oakland, California, was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday morning, police told local media.

The crew members were in the entertainment and business waterfront area of Jack London Square when three people with firearms confronted the group and stole a camera from their vehicle, according to The Mercury News.

New organisations have been targeted multiple times in recent weeks in Oakland, including a photographer working for the San Francisco Chronicle, who had his equipment stolen at gunpoint in early December. Security guard Kevin Nishita was also shot dead during an attempted robbery, while with a KRON-TV Channel 4 news crew in late November.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is drafting a proposal to increase police presence followed by an increase in violent crime in the city, where there have been 115 homicides this year.

“We in Oakland believe in a comprehensive and effective approach to ending gun violence,” Ms Schaaf said, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

In September, the number of Oakland police officers fell to below 700, reportedly the lowest number of officers in six years.

District 6 Councilmember Loren Taylor, who is running for mayor, has called for gun violence to be declared a “public health emergency”. He claims this has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase in violence, he said, “has led to elevated stress and trauma to communities already suffering physically, emotionally and financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic other factors,” according to a Council Meeting memorandum on 2 December.

“We must do better at protecting those who live, learn, work, and play in #TheTown and it will take all of us responding with the urgency that our gun violence crisis deserves,” urged Councilmember Taylor on Twitter.

There is an ongoing debate as to whether diverting more funds to social services will leave fewer funds for police services. Mr Taylor rejects this idea; “we have to be able to fund both,” he claimed on Twitter.

The Independent has contacted Oakland Police Department for further details on the NBC robbery.