OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Two Berkeley High School students who were killed over the weekend at a birthday party in Oakland were brothers who "never caused any trouble,” their aunt said.
Police have not yet released their names but their aunt, Erika Galavis, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday that they were Jazy Soleto, 17 and Angel Soleto, 15.
A masked shooter stormed the home in Oakland where a birthday party for one of their classmates was being held Saturday and opened fire, killing them, Galavis told the newspaper.
“They never made it to the hospital,” she said.
Police from Oakland and neighboring Emeryville responded to reports of gunfire Saturday around 10 p.m. in Oakland’s Longfellow neighborhood and found two young victims dead and two others wounded, police said.
The wounded victims were taken to a hospital where they are in stable condition, authorities said. No arrests have been made.
About 30 minutes before the shooting, Jazy sent his mother a text message asking to be picked up from the party, Galavis said. She said the boys were the two oldest in a family of six children being raised by a single mother.
The boys’ 13-year-old younger brother also was at the party and was not injured.
“Now he is the oldest brother," Galavis said.
The family does not know what motivated the shooting or whether Angel and Jazy were targeted, she said.
Galavis described 17-year-old Jazy as “a funny and smart young man” who “tended to naturally assume the role of protector.” He wanted to move to Los Angeles to work in the fashion industry, she said.
Angel, 15, wanted to be an architect and loved to draw, his aunt said.
“They spent their childhood playing soccer — that was their hobby,” Galavis said. “They were good boys. Their mother let them go out because they never caused any trouble.”
The shooting comes days after at least two gunmen opened fire inside a high school in Oakland, wounding six people, including two students. Oakland police are still searching for suspects in the shooting at Rudsdale High School, which investigators believe was a targeted attack connected to gangs.
Jenette Yarnal, who lives nearby, said she was watching TV when she heard a barrage of shots and saw kids running outside her apartment window.
“I thought they were just kids playing around,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle. “This neighborhood is pretty quiet.”
The high school planned to offer “comprehensive counseling services” for students at Berkeley High on Monday, the superintendent said.