OAKLAND — Chrystian Valdez Negrete, a married, hard-working father of four fatally shot Aug. 11 in East Oakland, was killed by a stray bullet fired at another man a gunman had just tried to rob, police said Thursday.
The 36-year-old intended victim of the robbery was wounded in the shooting but survived.
Police disclosed information about the attempted robbery at a news conference Thursday, released surveillance video of some of the incident and announced the reward in the killing has been increased to $25,000 in an effort to identify the shooter and two other suspects with him.
The video shows one of the suspects shooting and then shows all three running away in what investigators said was a seemingly uncaring almost “joyous” manner.
Valdez Negrete, of Oakland, was fatally wounded about 2:13 a.m. Aug. 11 in the 4400 block of International Boulevard. He and the man wounded did not know each other but had been at a nightclub in the area.
Police said the man wounded and another man had left the club and were walking eastbound on International when they saw the three suspects near 46th Avenue who appeared as if they were going to rob them.
The two men ran away in different directions with the 36-year-old man heading back toward the club where Valdez Negrete and some other people were standing outside. In what investigator Officer Wenceslao Garcia called a “really malicious” act, one of the three suspects started shooting at the 36-year-old man, wounding him. An errant bullet went more than a block before striking and killing Valdez Negrete.
The suspects were last videoed running northbound across International onto Bancroft Way and have not been arrested.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland had previously offered up to $15,000 in reward money leading to an arrest in the case. Police said Thursday Bay Area Beverage Company in Richmond, where Valdez Negrete had worked in the warehouse since 2002, is offering another $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.
Bay Area Beverage Company executive T.J. Louderback, said Thursday the hard-working Valdez Negrete “is still missed every day” at the company, which prides itself on having a family-like atmosphere. Some employees knew Valdez Negrete since the day he started working there.
Louderback said it was decided to offer the reward “to show support for (Valdez Negrete’s) family and that he won’t be forgotten. He was important to us and we want to make sure justice is served.”
Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.