Alameda residents spent Friday evening trying to make sense of a chaotic scene near the South Shore shopping center after gunfire erupted during what witnesses described as a beach takeover event. The shooting left two people injured and sent emergency responders flooding into the area, temporarily shutting down a stretch of one of the city’s busiest commercial corridors.
For many who live nearby, the first sign that something was wrong was the sound itself. Several residents initially dismissed what they heard as fireworks, which are not unusual near the waterfront on weekends.
One person out walking their dogs near the Bay Farm shoreline noticed a large crowd of young people gathered by the water who appeared completely relaxed, laughing, and socializing as if the evening was perfectly normal…