Update, Aug. 20: Scroll down to the bottom of this story to see the memorial flyer created to honor Craig Fletcher-Cooks. Memorial information is included.
Update, Aug. 16: A fundraiser has been launched to help pay for funeral costs for Craig Fletcher-Cooks. A memorial is also being planned. Learn more on the GoFundMe page.
A fundraiser to help the family of Terrence McCrary Jr. has also been set up. Learn more.
Original story, Aug. 15: Another young man who attended Berkeley High School has been identified as the second person fatally shot outside a birthday party in downtown Oakland early Sunday morning.
Friends and others who knew him have identified the young man as 20-year-old Craig Fletcher-Cooks. He and 22-year-old Terrence McCrary Jr. were fatally shot shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday after disputes reportedly broke out between groups at the Prime Development art gallery at 322 15th St.
Police have said a third man with gunshot wounds was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Fletcher-Cooks played rugby and football at Berkeley High School. He last played for the Berkeley Rhinos rugby team in 2014, when he graduated from BHS.
One of his Rhinos coaches, Nathan Dahl, described Fletcher-Cooks as “a phenomenal rugby player and a kind hearted and joyful young man.”
He continued: “This is such tragic news to hear that another member of the Berkeley Rhino family has passed so young and due to such senseless gun violence.” (The Rhinos also lost 17-year-old Efejon Ustenci in June after a tragic drowning.)
Fletcher-Cooks played for the Rhinos for two years and “sparked our team with his impassioned style of leadership,” added Coach Keir Paasch. “He was a good kid who was no stranger to adversity but tackled life head on.”
The young man would regularly come out to Rhinos practices to check on the team after he graduated, said Dahl, and a lot of the younger players looked up to him.
Friends remembered Fletcher-Cooks online Monday as word spread about his death.
Wrote one of his former Rhinos teammates, Jake Ripplinger, on Instagram: “Craig taught me some incredibly valuable lessons that translated from the pitch to life. Those lessons will stay with me forever. I don’t think he knew how much of a mentor he was for me and how much respect I and all of our teammates had for him.”
Carena Torrissa wrote on Twitter: “rip to one of the sweetest souls. Your presence, your heart, & that LAUGH will be missed.”
According to reports by friends of Terrence McCrary — known to many as Terrence Mack — at one point during Sunday’s party, an argument between groups escalated into a fight. After punches were thrown, at least two gunmen began firing shots inside and outside the party, striking three people in the process.
Police said the third victim was found a couple blocks from the crime scene, and that he was in stable condition as of Sunday.
It’s been a difficult week for alumni of Berkeley High, who also lost another community member to gun violence last Tuesday. Marne’e Causey, 23, was reportedly shot in Oakland. She and McCrary were members of the BHS class of 2011.
According to Hudl.com, Fletcher-Cooks — identified as Cooks-Fletcher — was a member of the BHS class of 2014. He began playing for the BHS Yellowjackets football team as a freshman in 2010, according to MaxPreps.com.
Berkeleyside will update this story if additional information becomes available.
On Monday, OPD identified the young men killed Sunday as Craig Fletcher-Cooks, 20, and Terrence McCrary, 22. Berkeleyside has requested further information from OPD but had not received a response as of publication time.
No suspects have been identified in either case. Anyone with information can contact the Oakland Police Department at 510-283-3821 or CrimeStoppers at 510-777-8572.
Delency Parham contributed to the reporting of this story.
Related:
2 BHS grads killed in separate Oakland shootings (08.14.16)
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