Juan Merced fatally shot in a BMW that had crashed on the 4200 block of Foothill Boulevard. Two other people were injured by gunfire

At about 2 a.m., police found Juan Merced, 21, of Oakland fatally shot in a BMW that had crashed on the 4200 block of Foothill Boulevard. Two other people were injured by gunfire in that incident, police said, but didn't elaborate.man was found shot and killed in a crashed car early Saturday in Oakland and two other people were shot and wounded in the latest spate of violence that police believe was related to illegal street races known as sideshows.Another car was found crashed and riddled with bullets at 51st Avenue and Foothill, a half-mile away, but it was unclear whether that crash was related.Police said the triple shooting appeared to be related to sideshows, the reckless displays of stunts and speed by drivers who often are intoxicated and typically don't have drivers' licenses. The BMW was among a group of cars that had congregated in the area, police said.But Merced's family and friends said they found it hard to believe that the victim, whom they called "Johnny," would participate in a sideshow."He doesn't engage in sideshows," said Merced's close friend, Sharhonda King, 23. "He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person."King described Merced as "sweet, kindhearted, very caring, loved to laugh and loved to joke." He was somewhat shy and liked playing video games and going on the computer to look up information about cars, she said. He worked at a Sleep Train store in East Oakland, his family said.
Merced's girlfriend, Jourdan Clark, 20, said, "He really didn't have any enemies. He was just loved by everyone."Police said the shooting is the latest example of the violence that can erupt at sideshows, which started in Oakland in the late 1980s and have been linked to dozens of deaths and injuries and property damage, including instances in which police have been shot at and pelted with bottles and rocks.
Oakland Police Deputy Chief Dave Kozicki said the size of crowds at sideshows has declined to fewer than 100 people, from an average of several hundred in the mid-1990s, due to tougher law enforcement and 30-day vehicle impounds. But he said the violence associated with sideshows has escalated.
The increased violence "is just part of the situation we are seeing in general in Oakland," Kozicki said. "We're seeing too many people settling problems with guns; the sideshows are just one example." Some recent sideshows have involved death and property damage unrelated to firearms, however. Saturday's slaying comes two weeks after a 22-year-old woman was killed when her car was hit head-on as she participated in a sideshow at 47th Avenue and Foothill. And on April 12, two cars apparently involved in a sideshow plowed through the front yard of a bungalow-style home at 2040 90th Ave. near Bancroft Avenue in East Oakland at about 4:20 a.m., breaking a gas line and touching off a blaze that destroyed most of the three-bedroom residence.Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente said Saturday that police could cut down on sideshows by confiscating and selling vehicles associated with the gatherings rather than just impounding them for 30 days - the current limit under state law. In 2007, the council repealed a 2005 ordinance that enabled police officers to seize cars used in the sideshows, after the state Supreme Court ruled that similar local laws are superseded by state law, which only allows police to impound cars for 30 days in this kind of case.
In spite of the fact that Oakland's car seizure law has been repealed, De La Fuente said, "We should push the envelope" and seize cars anyway. "As a city, we get sued for everything anyway. ... By the time someone gets his day in court, we'll have had his car for a long time."