Robbers held up a television news crew at gunpoint on Monday afternoon in Oakland, California while they were interviewing the city’s director of violence prevention.
The East Bay Times reports that midway through NBC Bay Area’s interview with Oakland’s head of violence prevention, Guillermo Cespedes, two robbers interrupted and tried to rob the crew. A scuffle then broke and a private security guard that was hired by the news agency pulled out his gun in an effort to deter them. The robbers then left without taking anything. The incident resulted in no injuries.
“Please be advised that the suspects are still outstanding,” a police officer told the East Bay Times. “We encourage everyone to be vigilant of their surroundings and report all crimes. Please stay safe.”
The incident took place outside City Hall on Monday around 3 p.m., hours after Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong blasted a proposal to reallocate $18 million from the police budget to the city’s Department of Violence Prevention, which is led by Cespedes. The proposed Oakland police budget is $674 million.
The Department of Violence Prevention was established in 2017 and was created with the hopes of reducing homicides in the city.
So far in 2021, there have been a recorded 65 homicides. There were 102 recorded homicides in Oakland last year.
