Oakland Police Seek Tips on Shooting Death

OAKLAND, CA - Oakland police said today that they're asking for the public's help in finding out why a bicyclist was fatally shot as he rode along the east shore of Lake Merritt in April.

Ernesto Lora Jr., 29, who had just moved from Houston to Oakland five months earlier, was shot in the 2000 block of Lakeshore Avenue at about 12:40 a.m. on April 30 and was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.

Oakland police Sgt. Michael Cardoza, who is leading the investigation into Lora's death, said today that police are "reaching out to the community to seek information" about Lora's death, including surveillance camera footage from homes and businesses in the area.

"We're still trying to figure out what led up to the shooting, such as whether he was a target or it was a random act or if there had been some type of road rage or altercation. Everything is open now," Cardoza said.

He said robbery has been ruled out as a motive for the shooting but "something must have happened."

Before he was shot, Lora, who worked as a food server, had been with friends from work at a party at a house on the Piedmont-Oakland border, Cardoza said.

Lora "was an avid bicyclist" and was biking from the party to his home when he was shot while in a southbound bike lane on Lakeshore Avenue traveling toward East 18th Street, according to Cardoza.

The party was "a nice social gathering" at which there weren't any fights and there wasn't any excessive drinking, Cardoza said.

Lora grew up in the Houston area and most of his family members and friends are still there but "he was trying to establish himself in the Oakland area," Cardoza said.

Oakland police are "looking for any bit of information that will help us further this case," Cardoza said.

The Lakeshore Avenue area where Lora was fatally shot is fairly safe and there aren't many homicides there, he said.

The area has a lot of vehicle and foot traffic so police are hoping that someone witnessed what happened to Lora and will come forward, according to Cardoza.

Lora was "a people-friendly person" who liked to attend live music programs and played several instruments himself, Cardoza said.

Fliers about the investigation into Lora's death will be distributed in the Lakeshore Avenue area, he said.

Oakland police are asking anyone with information about Lora's death to call their homicide division at (510) 238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at (510) 777-8572.