San Leandro, California

From the San Francisco Chronicle of August 21, 2005

Pot club robbery ends in shooting

A San Leandro neighborhood was on edge Saturday after a brazen daytime robbery and shootout at a medical marijuana club that led to the death of an 18-year-old Oakland man.

Alameda County sheriff's investigators were still searching for three suspects after five men -- several armed with semiautomatic rifles and pistols -- stormed the medical marijuana club at 16360 Foothill Blvd. on Friday and exchanged gunfire with the store owner.

The shooting happened just before the pot club was due to open at noon, said sheriff's Sgt. Linda Thuman. The owner was inside with one other employee, she said, when they heard loud footsteps on the roof. Five men then forced the store owner at gunpoint to open the safe before they made off with an untold amount of money and pot, she said.

As the men left, the owner got a gun from a hiding place, followed the men outside and demanded that they "freeze." That's when the intruders opened fire, according to Thuman. The club owner fired back, mortally wounding one.

The intruder, whom the Alameda County coroner's office identified Saturday as DeMarco Lowrey of Oakland, was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital Oakland, where his accomplices dropped him off after the melee, Thuman said.

"It scares me," said one nearby business owner. "It scares my employees. Pretty soon, it might scare my customers. All my customers are against them being here. It's too close to the houses where they live."