Antonio Diaz, a 40-year-old Oakland resident, was shot and killed on April 21, 2020, in the 400 block of Caswell Avenue in the Brookfield Village neighborhood of East Oakland. He was found with gunshot wounds about 9 p.m. and later died at a local hospital. The Oakland Police Department initially did not release a motive and offered a reward for information; there were no immediate arrests reported after the killing.

Investigators later linked 43-year-old James Mallett, also known as Jesse James, to the case. Police say Mallett allegedly stabbed Diaz in February 2020 at the Park Lane Motel on MacArthur Boulevard; surveillance video reportedly captured that attack. Diaz survived but declined to cooperate with prosecutors regarding the earlier stabbing. On April 21, authorities allege Mallett then shot Diaz at a homeless encampment where Mallett was living. Police reported finding a poem in Mallett’s possession that referenced Diaz’s killing and suggested a suicide-by-cop scenario; that material was cited as part of the evidence tying Mallett to the murder. Mallett was arrested and charged; he pleaded not guilty in court.

What did readers in East Oakland see or hear around Caswell Avenue on the night of April 21, 2020?