Carpenter’s death in Oakland school shooting ruled homicide

The death of Kazuhiro Sakurai is now being investigated by Oakland police as the 121st homicide of 2022 in the city.

OAKLAND — The death of a school district carpenter Nov. 17 — which happened seven weeks after he was one of six people wounded in a shooting at an East Oakland high school — has been ruled a homicide by the Alameda County Coroner, authorities said.

The coroner’s office said this week that Kazuhiro David Sakurai, 64, died as a result of complications from a gunshot wound, police said.

His death is now being investigated by Oakland police as the 121st homicide of 2022 in the city.

Even though Sakurai had been shot, the coroner’s office still had to determine if the actual cause of death was from the wound, a pre-existing medical condition he had, or a combination of the two, authorities said.

Sakurai was one of six people wounded about 12:45 p.m. Sept. 28 when two gunmen opened fire at Rudsdale High School, which is among a cluster of schools at the King Estates education complex in the 8200 block of Fontaine Street.

Police have said the shooting was a gang-related attack against a student but police have not said who the shooters intended to target. The gunmen took off in a vehicle driven by a third person. No arrests have been made in the case.

Besides Sakurai, two students, one 18 and one 19, were wounded, as were three other district employees. They are all recovering.

Sakurai, an East Bay resident, was a district carpenter for 18 years, who worked on numerous projects to “upgrade and beautify” Oakland’s school campuses, the district said at the time of his death. Sakurai was on the King Estates campus on the day of the shooting to install new countertops, the OUSD statement said.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are now offering up to $35,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspects. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.