California officials say a father of two is being charged with murder because he is accused of shooting a 21-year-old woman to death with an assault gun in the street.
According to a May 3 news release from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, three different gunshots were reported at 2:20 a.m. on April 29 by ShotSpotter, a technology that alerts police when shots are fired. This is when Oakland police officers were sent to the scene.
When police arrived, they found Marie Villa Bedford with “a gunshot wound to the head,” according to officials.
According to the statement, Bernard Tracy Jimmerson of Oakland told police that he was annoyed by the noise of cars speeding up and down his street in the middle of the night.
Officials say he went outside with his gun and started shooting at cars going by.
The release says that Bedford was in the area and “trying to get away from the gunfire” when she was hit by a stray bullet.
Officials said that when cops went to Jimmerson’s house, they found out he was on probation for having a gun. They found “nearly 200 rounds of ammunition, two pistols, two AR-15 rifles, and body armor,” says the East Bay Times.
“This neighborhood has too many guns. “There are too many people who think they have the right to use a gun when they don’t,” District Attorney Pamela Y. Price said in the release. “Stop doing that. And if someone kills someone in these conditions, we will hold them responsible.”
The release said that Jimmerson was charged with second-degree murder, shooting at an occupied car, having an assault rifle, and having a gun and ammunition while he was a convicted criminal.
Officials said he was going to be in court on May 3. If he is found guilty, he could go to jail for 27 years to life.
About 12 miles northeast of San Francisco is the city of Oakland.
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