OAKLAND — Witnesses said Thursday that Jose Luis Buenrostro-Gonzalez, 15, had his hands in the air and was unarmed when he was fatally shot by Oakland police Wednesday.

"I saw the boy (with his) hands up and saw bullets flying," said witness Luis, who declined to give his last name for fear of retribution.

When he rounded the corner, Luis said, he saw Buenrostro-Gonzalez facing the police.
"I didn't see a gun," he said.

Another witness, Ricardo Pedroza, 17, said that when he was coming to meet Buenrostro-Gonzalez from a block away, he heard an undercover police vehicle screech to a halt and an officer on a loudspeaker warn Buenrostro-Gonzalez to put his hands in the air.

"He had his hands up and they were still shooting him," Pedroza said.

Pedroza ran to tell his sister and told her to call for an ambulance. His sister, Maria Pedroza, 24, then went to check on Buenrostro-Gonzalez before police ordered her away, Pedroza said.

"I ran down the street and saw him flat on his stomach. I asked the police 'Why did you shoot him?' The police said that he had a gun on him," Maria Pedroza said. "That is when they reached in his waistband and pulled something silver out. ... He never had a gun (when he left the Pedroza's house minutes earlier)."