OAKLAND — Police were reviewing footage from a security camera that depicted a triple-shooting suspect fleeing to a vehicle and making his getaway.
Then a detective noticed something: This was not your typical getaway driver. There was a Lyft sticker on the back of the car.
Police were able to confirm that the suspect had, in fact, called a Lyft to pick him up from what police say nearly became a homicide scene. And he allegedly used his own account. After reviewing records from the rideshare company, police obtained an arrest warrant for 23-year-old Zaire Campbell on attempted murder charges.
Campbell, an Alameda resident, was charged with three counts of attempted murder on Aug. 28. But he remained a fugitive until Wednesday, when he was booked into Santa Rita Jail, court records show. The jail intake form did not say where he was arrested.
Campbell allegedly shot two 16-year-old boys and a 23-year-old man in the 700 block of Center Street, near the West Oakland BART station, shortly before 11 a.m. on Aug. 5. After allegedly firing a pistol at them, Campbell ran to a nearby barber college and went inside. Then he left to meet his Lyft driver, who brought him to his home, police said.
Campbell is set to appear in court to enter a plea on Oct. 23, records show. His wife has also been charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly harboring him after the shooting.
All three victims were hospitalized with injuries. One of them was intubated at the intensive care unit and nearly died from his injuries, police said. The other two did not provide police any assistance in identifying a suspect; one claimed he did not know who shot him or why and the other refused to say anything to investigators, authorities said.
