Lake Merritt shooting victim was bystander allegedly targeted by teenage suspect

The family of one of the victims of last week's mass shooting in Lake Merritt is telling a disturbing story that may amount to a hate crime, and the victim wasn't even at the unauthorized Juneteenth party that was taking place.

Tracy Ma, the sister of shooting victim Mason Ma, told KTVU Thursday that her brother lost a finger and may lose partial use of one of his legs following last Wednesday's shooting. Mason Ma was one of 14 people shot and injured during a melee, and it remains unclear how many shooters were involved.

“He suffers a lot from anxiety,” Ma told the station. “He is in a lot of pain. He would wake up in the middle of the night asking for painkillers.”

Ma says her brother was walking with a friend on his way to dinner at a nearby Korean barbecue restaurant (probably Jong Ga House) when he noticed the party taking place by the lake.

In a tragic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it appears Mason Ma was walking alongside the large gathering at the very time violence erupted, around 8:45 p.m., following a performance at the adjacent intersection of Grand and Bellevue avenues.

But, according to Tracy Ma, her brother was not hit by a stray bullet. He was allegedly targeted and shot multiple times by the same gunman, a man aged 16 to 20.

“He approached calmly and fired his first shot at [Mason’s] “He lost his finger,” Tracy Ma tells KTVU. His brother apparently dove under a parked SUV while his friend managed to escape.

“The shooter approached the car and fired two more shots,” Ma said.

Mason Ma was shot twice in the left leg and was bleeding profusely in the street when someone else came to steal his cell phone.

He was then taken to hospital.

Tracy Ma has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover Mason's medical and rehabilitation costs, and has already raised $5,600 of a $50,000 goal.

“Mason was in critical condition when he was transported from the crime scene to the hospital,” writes Tracy Ma. “He underwent numerous surgeries, including several bypass surgeries due to significant blood loss and l amputation of his right index finger. A remaining bullet in his left thigh will be removed after his initial recovery, but it is unlikely his left leg will be able to function at full capacity again. »

The Oakland Police Department said it arrested two people in connection with the shooting, and it's unclear whether either of those people was the one who shot Mason Ma.

What may have been a shooting between rivals during that Juneteenth party also included this apparently deliberate shooting of a bystander. Given the wave of crimes committed against Asian Americans in Oakland in recent years, the possibility that Ma's shooting was a hate crime remains.

Tracy Ma has words for the shooter, which she delivered on KTVU: “I don't know why you did that. I know you're going to get caught. Karma will catch up with you eventually.”

Previously: 14 people shot during unauthorized event June 19 at Lake Merritt in Oakland