Oakland is right across the bridge from San Francisco. It formerly used to be the "ghetto" part of San Francisco, but in recent years rapid price increases have been squeezing people and pushing the ghetto population out. So apparently the crime is so bad, news crews who go to that area have to have a special security escort to protect them. The crime is so bad that robbers want to target them to steal their expensive news cameras and equipment. So there had just been one smash-and-grab theft at a business, which the reporters were covering. That's when someone else came along and attempted to rob the news crew. The security guard protecting them was shot and died. Oakland, California - A security guard has died after he was shot while he protected a San Francisco Bay Area television news crew covering a smash-and-grab theft, part of a rash of organized retail crime in the region. “We are devastated by the loss of security guard and our friend, Kevin Nishita. Our deepest sympathy goes to Kevin’s wife, his children, his family, and to all his friends and colleagues,” KRON-TV's vice president and general manager, Jim Rose, said in a statement issued Saturday. Nishita was an armed guard for Star Protection Agency and provided security for television news crews in the region, who are often targeted by robbers for their equipment. He was shot in the abdomen during an attempted robbery of KRON-TV's camera equipment near downtown Oakland on Wednesday, police said. The news crew was covering a recent robbery where a group of thieves broke in and stole from a clothing store. A reward of $32,500 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest in Nishita's killing. Nishita was a police officer for the cities of Hayward, San Jose, Colma before retiring in 2018. The Alameda County Sheriff's office said deputies escorted his body from the hospital with full law enforcement honors. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...in-attempted-robbery/ar-AARcCWG?ocid=msedgntp This story is being seen as a wake up call that crime in Oakland (and also nearby San Francisco) has gotten bad. Maybe the "defund the police" movement hasn't worked out so well.
