Two people dead, two wounded in Oakland shooting

Two people have been shot dead and two others injured after a verbal altercation in East Oakland, police say.

Officers were called to the 1600 block of 83rd Avenue and found four victims with gunshot wounds, the Oakland Police Department said in a statement.

Two of the victims died on site and two others were taken to a hospital, police said.

Several people were engaged in a verbal altercation that became deadly when one of the individuals pulled out a firearm and fired multiple rounds before fleeing the scene in a vehicle, police said.

Police are withholding names of the victims until next of kin are notified.

Oakland is a city of 400,000 that has struggled with crime and public safety.

Oakland mayor Sheng Thao faces a recall election in November. The home Thao shares with her partner and son was raided by the FBI in June as part of an investigation that included searches of other houses owned by a politically connected family that owns a recycling company.

Thao has said she has done nothing wrong.