Oakland driver killed in daylight shooting near Lake Merritt

OAKLAND — A man was fatally shot Sunday while driving near Lake Merritt and crashed his vehicle into a nearby motel parking lot, creating a public crime scene but no immediate clarity on why he was attacked, authorities said.

The driver was traveling east on Lake Merritt Boulevard past 12th Street — near the René C. Davidson Courthouse — around 11:55 a.m. when he was shot by an unknown assailant, according to Oakland police.

Wounded, the man continued driving his Honda Odyssey minivan for about a half-mile and crashed through a fence of an Americas Best Value Inn motel, a half-block south of Lake Merritt Boulevard and East 12th Street. The vehicle hit two parked cars in the motel’s lot before coming to a stop.

The driver, who was the sole occupant of the minivan, was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been publicly released pending his formal identification and notification of his next of kin by the Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau.