Police flooded a stretch of East Oakland’s Fruitvale district yesterday after multiple people were injured in an apparent stabbing near 39th Avenue and International Boulevard, according to authorities. Witnesses reported a large police presence beginning around 8 PM, and a fire official said the victims suffered stab wounds.
As of the latest reporting, police had not released the number of people injured or the extent of their injuries, according to San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Aldo Toledo. Police responded to the scene, per the Chronicle’s report, though details on any suspect, a possible motive, or a recovered weapon were not immediately available.
The intersection sits along one of Oakland’s most heavily trafficked commercial and transit corridors. The stretch of International Boulevard through Fruitvale carries AC Transit’s Tempo 1T Bus Rapid Transit line, a 9.5-mile route serving roughly 25,000 daily riders with stops near 39th Avenue, per AC Transit. The $230 million corridor opened in August 2020, connecting downtown Oakland to San Leandro.
A Corridor Already Flagged for Safety Concerns
International Boulevard has long drawn attention from city officials for reasons beyond yesterday’s incident. The City of Oakland’s Safe Oakland Streets Initiative designated the boulevard as the city’s top High Injury Corridor, citing a high concentration of public safety and traffic incidents, and the corridor has historically accounted for roughly one-third of all Oakland traffic fatalities…