Man killed in East Oakland as he gets home from work

Oakland Tribune

Posted: 07/23/2010 06:42:03 AM PDT
Updated: 07/23/2010 08:12:58 PM PDT

OAKLAND — In a couple of days, he would have been out of the neighborhood. Cristorey Mariano, who worked a night shift in housekeeping at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, had planned to move this weekend from his lower-unit apartment at a house in East Oakland, his brother said.

Instead, the 53-year-old retired Navy veteran, who had a wife and 7-year-old daughter in the Philippines, was shot and killed when he got home from work early Friday, staggering up the front steps to his landlord's door, beating on it and shouting for help before he collapsed.

"He is a family man," said his brother, Romeo Mariano, of El Sobrante, who came to the house later that day, shaking his head at the blood stains on the front steps. "He just works. He doesn't drink, smoke or do anything. Who would take someone's life like that?"

Mariano had parked in front of his apartment in the 5700 block of East 15th Street about 1:40 a.m., and was getting out of his car when he was confronted and shot at least once, police said. Nearby California Highway Patrol officers heard the shot and were the first to arrive at the scene, said Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason. Oakland officers and emergency crews followed. Mariano was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators have not determined a motive for the shooting, and do not yet know if Mariano was robbed. "This appears to be someone who was a completely innocent victim," said Oakland police Sgt. Tony Jones.

Shaken neighbors were out on the street Friday afternoon, discussing the shooting. They said Mariano had lived in the apartment about two years, and was a quiet man but very nice to talk to.

"He minds his business. He doesn't mess with anyone," said neighbor Vanessa Wells. "This is senseless homicide. It makes no sense. It's scary. I'm worried for my 7-year-old son and neighbors."

Neighbor Rene Poche heard the gunshot. "I came out and saw him fall down the stairs," she said. "When is this going to stop?"

Romeo Mariano said his brother was in the Navy for 20 years but had retired in 2002. He said he worked hard at his job and sent money to his family in the Philippines. His wife and daughter had come for a visit about six months ago.

"It's 10 of us brothers with five of us who were in the military at one time," Romeo Mariano said.

"He was going to move out this weekend. He had a place lined up. Who would do this?"

From: http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_15585513?source=most_viewed