David Manson Jr., 17, of Oakland, was shot and killed on the afternoon of Sunday, June 2, 2013, in the 9100 block of International Boulevard, near 90th Avenue in East Oakland. He died at the scene. The Oakland Police Department investigated, and he was the 43rd person killed in Oakland that year.
The shooting happened at about 1:45 p.m. on one of East Oakland's busiest streets. According to police, a single gunman walked up to one of the young men and opened fire.
Manson was shot multiple times. A 17-year-old friend who was with him was wounded in the leg, and a 60-year-old woman who was driving past was hit in the leg by a stray bullet. Both survived. The gunman fled on foot.
Police said they did not have a motive and made no arrests. Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland offered a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the gunman's arrest. Investigators had trouble reaching Manson's relatives in the first days after the shooting. Officials said he had attended Oakland High School in 2011.
Manson's death came during an especially violent stretch in Oakland. Seventeen people were shot in the city over 72 hours that weekend, and Manson was the only one who died. Weeks later, the Bay Area News Group listed him among 21 children who had been shot and killed in Oakland since 2011, describing how he was killed by a gunman who fled on foot while his friend was wounded beside him.
The 9100 block of International Boulevard is part of a long commercial corridor that runs through East Oakland, lined with small shops, restaurants and bus stops. On a Sunday afternoon the street would have had steady traffic, pedestrians and drivers, which means that people who did not know Manson may still have seen the gunman arrive or leave.
Oakland was one of the most violent large cities in California in those years. The city recorded 148 homicides in 2006 and more than 100 in most years through 2013, and its police department solved far fewer of them than the statewide average. In 2010 and 2011, Oakland police cleared only about 30 percent of the city's homicides.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of David Manson Jr. could be found in news archives or public records. More than 13 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. The Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in Oakland from 2008 through 2017, lists the case as open with no arrest. Anyone who was on International Boulevard near 90th Avenue that afternoon, or who knows why someone would have targeted a 17-year-old there, may hold an important piece of the story. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Oakland Police Department Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821 or the homicide tip line at (510) 238-7950, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of Oakland at (510) 777-8572.
