OAKLAND — A man beaten up at an East Oakland birthday party early Sunday for harassing a woman got a gun and shot his assailant to death, police said.

The gunman also wounded the slain man's 20-year-old cousin before fleeing.

Killed was Armando R. Gonzalez, 29, of San Leandro who was related to the woman being harassed. The name of his cousin, a woman who resides in San Leandro but was not the one harassed, was not released by police.

The shooting happened about 2:53 a.m. Sunday on the sidewalk in the 1800 block of 89th Avenue.

Police said Gonzalez, his cousin who was shot, some other relatives of his and the suspect were among a group of about 30 who had been attending a birthday party for two others at a house on the block.

Sgt. George Phillips said Gonzalez and the suspect apparently did not know each other.

The party had begun about five hours earlier and there were no real problems, police said.

But the suspect apparently had been harassing another female relative of Gonzalez, Phillips said.

Gonzalez got into a fistfight with the man outside the house and severely beat him, including knocking him to the ground, Phillips said.

As Gonzalez and his 20-year-old cousin were walking away from the house, the suspect got a gun from the rear of the residence. Phillips said the suspect approached Gonzalez and the cousin and started shooting at them without warning before fleeing on foot.

Gonzalez


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and his cousin were each hit several times. Gonzalez died at the scene. His cousin was taken to a local hospital where she was in critical but stable condition with non-life-threatening wounds, police said. No one else was hurt.

Police were still trying to identify and find the suspect Sunday afternoon.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $15,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspect. Anyone with information can call police at 238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 777-8572 or 777-3211.