by Patrick Reddic
On Feb. 14, 2017, I was shot with a rifle by a sniper named Jesse Enjaian, a white guy. I was a homeless man sleeping in my car. I had parked for the night on the street in front of his house on the 9500 block of Las Vegas Avenue near Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland.
He shot out all four of my tires, all my windows, my dashboard got a bullet hole in it and my head was grazed by a bullet. I woke up to bullets flying, hit my horn, jumped out of my car and hollered for help.
Neighbors called the police. It was just before 8 a.m., and many were out getting in their cars to go to work or take their children to school. I’d been parking and sleeping on that block for a while and was known in the neighborhood.
I saw Jesse Enjaian standing in front of his house holding his rifle. I had no idea he was the shooter and asked him for help. He told me: “Get off my property, you fucking nigger! I’m the one who shot you.”
The police talked to seven eyewitnesses. Every one of them said that I was not the problem. “Jesse is the problem,” they said. “He’s got the gun.”
Jesse Enjaian was never arrested. Instead, the police went up to him, patted him on the back and told him, “Go in the house. We have everything under control.”
I asked for medical help. The wound from the bullet that grazed my head was bleeding badly. The police went to their car but not for a first aid kit; they came back with more guns, military assault rifles. They pointed the guns at me, ordered me to the ground, and said, “You are the criminal. You are going to jail.”
They beat me, called me delusional and took me to jail. I was treated as if I was a criminal and interrogated for hours. I identified Enjaian in a photo lineup, but the police ignored him and blamed me.
Three days later, on Feb. 17, 2017, the same Jesse Enjaian shot up the whole neighborhood, even shot at a news helicopter in the sky, and neighbors’ houses and cars. He spray-painted black penises and titties on garage doors.
So the police killed Jesse Enjaian that day. But if they had believed me on Feb. 14, all of this massacre could have been prevented.
When I got released from jail, the police took me back to where my car was parked, and told me I was the problem and I had to get out of the neighborhood. So I drove on four flat tires with glass all in my seat, and I drove straight to the office of attorney John Burris. I hired him to represent me in this matter.
Powerful people promise to help … then forget
Before this incident happened, I had met Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf at a fundraiser on 69th and International Boulevard in Oakland at the Martin Luther King Library. They told me if I was ever in need of any help, they would help me.
So I got their numbers – they both wrote their cell phone numbers on their cards – and when the incident happened to me on the 14th, I called them and told them – the mayor’s office and the office of the leading candidate for governor. Both of them were aware of the situation but they didn’t do anything about it.
I received no help from the mayor or the lieutenant governor on the 14th when I called both of them on a recorded line.
John Burris said he was going to file four lawsuits for me and get me a place to live. On Feb. 23, 2017, which is my birthday, we did a press conference on national TV and newspapers. National.
So now these powerful people start apologizing and telling me how sorry they are and how they messed up. They made a mistake.
They asked me what did I want to make all of this go away. So I told Mayor Libby Schaaf that I want to be able to use her as a reference and a resource. I told Chief of Police Anne Kirkpatrick that I want freedom in the city, which is a key to the city, which means I’m not a burden or a problem in the city.
I told Gavin Newsom, candidate for governor, that I would like an entry-level job; I would like to go back to work. All three of them agreed and said no problem. I believed that John Burris was working on four lawsuits and finding me a place to live.
But there was no voucher given. There was no GoFundMe account set up. There was no victim of violent crimes check given. I received nothing from Jesse Enjaian or his insurance.
I received nothing from the City of Oakland. I received nothing from the Police Department. I received no help from my own attorney’s office.
I am the victim here. My name is Patrick Reddic. I’m the homeless man. I’ve been left outside to die on the streets.
There’s no help. There’s no justice. There’s no peace, no freedom, no respect, no fair action, no human rights.
Now it’s 2018 already, so why am I still homeless on the streets? Where’s my lawsuits? Where’s my help? Where’s my place to live?
Where is the mayor’s reference and resource? Where is the candidate for governor’s entry level job? Where is the chief of police with my key to the city? Where’s my attorney John Burris with my lawsuits and my place to live?
Why am I still homeless when I’ve been a victim of a violent crime? What happened to my victim of violent crimes check? What happened to my insurance check? What happened to the estate check? What happened to the city check? What happened to the police check? State check?
Why does the mayor, the chief, the likely soon-to-be-governor and attorney treat me like this? Because I’m Black and homeless and I have no voice and no say?
All I asked for was help and justice. But I can’t get that, so now I want freedom. I want to see justice for all homeless, disabled and African-American people.
To add insult to my injuries, I was promised I could live inside Jesse Enjaian’s house by his dad, because the house was empty and they no longer had any use for it. He said they live in Fremont and don’t come to Oakland, so that’s why they gave the house to Jesse.
But now, since he died, and he hurt me, his dad, Dennis Enjaian, said I could live there. But they never followed through, so I’ve been sleeping outside the house in my car. Everybody I ask for help thinks I got a big check from John Burris.
Patrick Reddic can be reached at homelessman5100@yahoo.com. He needs a home and a job and some financial help until he can again support himself; donate via a supporter-created GoFundMe, at gofundme.com/patrick-reddic-do