Violence skyrocketed after Mitchell’s death as other gangsters battled for a piece of his turf as well as the increasingly lucrative crack trade. Year by year, the number of murders climbed steadily—from 114 in 1987 to 165 in 1992. The corpses weren’t evenly distributed throughout the city, though. They were clustered on the east and west sides of town. East Oakland in particular was awash in crack, blood, and bullets.
