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Man Fatally Shot Outside Occupy Oakland Camp

Oakland Police say two groups of men were seen fighting earlier in the evening before shots were fired.

A man who was shot outside the Occupy Oakland encampment Thursday night has died, Oakland Police report.

 

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said the victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital less than two hours after two groups of men got into a fight near the Occupy Oakland camp on a plaza near City Hall.

 

The Oakland Tribune reported that police found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound just before 5 p.m. on Thursday. No suspects have been named.

 

Protest organizers said they didn’t recognize the man and that he wasn’t a part of the Occupy movement.

 

"The person on the ground was not part of the occupation. I can verify that," said Shake Anderson, an Occupy Oakland organizer, to the Associated Press. He said a group of strangers ran through the camp as if they were looking for someone just before the shooting.

 

When the shooting occurred, Occupy protesters were having a celebration to mark the one-month anniversary since setting up camp in downtown Oakland.

 

The Occupy Oakland protests have quickly become the largest and most aggressive in the nation, setting the stage for violent clashes with police, including a riot on Oct. 25 where more than 80 people were arrested and police used tear gas to control the crowd. Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen, 24, suffered a serious brain injury in the melee. Another clash on Nov. 2 led to more arrests after protesters overtook an abandoned building and fired M80s from homemade bomb launchers at police.

(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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