Oakland chief notes ‘disturbing trend’ in killing of paramedic

Authorities allege that five teenagers killed an off-duty San Jose paramedic inside his vehicle in an incident that Oakland’s police chief called disturbing.

“I’m deeply concerned about an unacceptable and disturbing trend where robberies and other crimes are being committed by young people 13 to 17,” Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan told reporters at a news conference. “Young people are finding it very simple to point a gun and shoot someone.”

The teenagers were arrested in connection with the killing of Quinn Boyer, 34, a San Jose paramedic who was inside his vehicle, police told the Oakland Tribune.

Boyer, a newly married 34-year-old, was memorialized Tuesday at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Oakland after a service that drew hundreds of friends, relatives, firefighters, paramedics, police and city leaders, including Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.

The suspects allegedly pulled up in a vehicle alongside Boyer and opened fire about noon on April 2 at Kellar Avenue and Hansom Drive in the Oakland Hills.

Boyer, who died two days later, had dropped off his father after taking him to see a doctor and was alone when he was shot, the Tribune reported.

Police said the teenagers -- two 14-year-olds, two 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old -- were arrested Monday and Tuesday. Police said they did not believe that the youths are gang members. The motive for the killing is unclear.

Police said Boyer was a random target. After he was shot, he apparently hit the gas pedal, propelling his car over a median strip and into a ravine.

After the shooting, people in the Keller Avenue area described a “suspicious vehicle” in the neighborhood on the day Boyer was shot, the Tribune reported, giving investigators a clue to the car they were seeking.

An abandoned car -- police have declined to name the make and model -- was found April 3 near Horace Mann Elementary School in East Oakland, miles from where Boyer was shot.

Police said Oakland school district Police Officer Anthony Fergoso helped identify most of the teenagers through surveillance video taken from near where the car was left.

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