Phoutsamay Norawong

Phoutsamay “Phil” Norawong, a 44-year-old man, was remembered by his family as a peacemaker who was senselessly killed while trying to do the right thing. “He had people who loved him,” his sister Diana said. “He was a peacemaker. That's all he was doing, living his life, and the person who did it just senselessly took his life away.”

In the early morning of February 26, 2023, Norawong and two friends were finishing a night out in Oakland’s Chinatown district. Around 1:15 a.m., after leaving an establishment on Webster Street, they encountered two men who had traveled from San Francisco to commit car burglaries. An argument broke out on 8th Street when one of Norawong’s friends confronted the men. According to police and trial testimony, Norawong stepped in to de-escalate the situation, pulling his friends away from the altercation.

After the initial confrontation ended, the two men, Patrick Rushing and Terrance Rose, got back into their Nissan Rogue. At Rushing’s direction, Rose drove the car around the block to where Norawong and his friends were. Rushing then opened the passenger door, stood up, and opened fire. Norawong was struck by the gunfire. One of his friends, who was armed, shot back at the vehicle but did not hit anyone. Norawong was rushed to a hospital, but he died from his injuries about five hours later.

Investigators quickly identified the Nissan Rogue used in the shooting. The day after the homicide, Rose’s wife, Joan Ramirez-Rose, falsely reported the car as stolen, but police tracked it to the couple’s home. Terrance Rose, who had been released from federal prison just nine days earlier, was arrested and charged with murder. His wife was charged as an accessory. Using ballistics evidence, phone records, and surveillance footage, police identified Patrick Rushing as the shooter, and he was arrested on May 17, 2023. Both men were charged with murder and two counts of assault with a semi-automatic pistol.

Terrance Rose later accepted a plea deal that required his cooperation, and he testified at trial against his co-defendant. Patrick Rushing was subsequently convicted of second-degree murder with an enhancement for the intentional discharge of a gun. The conviction was the latest development in the case, reported in December 2025.