OAKLAND FREEWAY REOPENS AFTER FATAL SHOOTING: OAKLAND (AP) — A freeway has reopened early Friday after a shooting left two men dead.
The shooting occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. Thursday on northbound Interstate Highway 880. The California Highway Patrol had been diverting traffic after closing the northbound lanes for several hours.
Authorities say a gunman opened fire on a two men driving home on the freeway in downtown Oakland after watching the Golden State Warriors playoff game.
The Oakland Tribune reports one of the men was hit by a van after he was ejected from the white 2010 Porsche Panamera when the car hit the center divider.
No arrests have been made and the cause of the shooting is under investigation. Both deaths have been deemed homicides.
PSYCHIATRIST PLEADS IN CHILD MOLEST CASE: REDWOOD CITY (AP) — A once-prominent Northern California child psychiatrist could get up to eight years in prison after he pleaded no contest to charges that he molested patients.
William Ayres, 81, entered his plea Thursday to eight molestation charges on the eve of a retrial, the San Mateo County Times reported. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 6 and remains free on $900,000 bail.
Ayres was tried in 2009 on charges that he molested several young boys under his care, but a jury couldn't reach a verdict.
Prosecutors attempted to retry him, but Ayres was ruled incompetent and sent to a hospital. A judge sided with prosecutors last year who argued that he fooled mental health experts into believing he had dementia to avoid prosecution.
Ayers was accused of using physical exams that included the genitals as a cover for the abuse. He testified at his trial that the exams he conducted on some of his patients were necessary because he had concerns about their physical health.
Prosecutors were ready to call several men who claim Ayres allegedly molested them as children in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They said they were aware of 50 alleged victims.
MAN ACQUITTED OF MURDER IN FATAL BEATING: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California man has been acquitted of murder but convicted of lesser charges in the death of a man who was beaten in Golden Gate Park.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/11JPelT) 24-year-old Marcus Herrera was convicted this week of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon. He faces up to four years in prison when he's expected to be sentenced June 7.
Prosecutors said Herrera beat and robbed 55-year-old Robert Musial of San Francisco last April in the park. Musial suffered a fatal heart arrhythmia less than an hour later and died.
Herrera testified that he was with Jeremy Brinker, who was trying to get Musial to repay a $5,000 debt for marijuana. Herrera said he had only nudged Musial with a skateboard.
Brinker has pleaded guilty to robbery, voluntary manslaughter and false imprisonment.
HIGHWAY PROJECT UNEARTHS NATIVE AMERICAN ARTIFACTS: NOVATO (AP) — Highway workers have unearthed artifacts used by a Native American tribe as part of a paving project along Highway 101 north of Novato.
Arrowheads, parts of grinding bowls, stone tools and shells used by the Coast Miwok were discovered during the project, which archaeologists say has uncovered an area used by native people over several hundred years.
A crew of up to 25 archaeologists including a team from California State University, Sacramento is now digging and sifting through the soil to bring the artifacts into light.
The Marin Independent Journal reports members of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Sacred Sites Committee, who are of Coast Miwok descent, are monitoring the dig.
6 ARRESTED, OFFICER INJURED AT SF STATE DORM: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One police officer was injured and six people arrested after San Francisco State University campus officers tried to clear intruders from a school dormitory.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that students in the dorm on Thursday complained about a drunken man outside Mary Ward Hall.
Campus police arrested the man on suspicion of being drunk in public then found that five more non-students — three men and two women — were inside the residence hall.
Ellen Griffin, a campus spokeswoman, said the brouhaha broke out when police tried to arrest the intruders, injuring one police officer.
The five were arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, trespassing, conspiracy and other charges.
Griffin did not know the status of the injured officer.
