Gunfire shattered the evening calm at Pierre Pierre Bullet, a celebrated Black-owned fine dining restaurant in downtown Oakland, leaving two people wounded and a community in shock. On May 3, 2025, at around 8:16 p.m., bullets tore through the restaurant’s window at 409 13th Street, striking a 24-year-old man from Richmond and a 31-year-old woman from Oakland. The incident, which unfolded during dinner service, has raised questions about safety and simmering tensions in the city.
Shattered glass and bullet holes riddling the front windows now mark what was once a shining symbol of renewal and pride for Oakland’s downtown. The attack has shocked not only the city but a larger community that saw Pierre Pierre as much more than just a place to eat.
Pierre Pierre was co-founded in December 2023 by Florida rapper JackBoy and renowned Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef Cleashaun “Chef Cleaz” Hill, a San Francisco native with deep culinary roots in soul food and Creole cuisine. The name, a play on the rapper’s first name, was a nod to Black identity and excellence.
Since its opening, the restaurant became the buzz with its daring menu—read: blackened catfish, gumbo, Cajun ribeyes, and sweet potato beignets—served in an upscale, artistic space that celebrated Southern tradition. Something more than that, though, Pierre Pierre was built to be a cultural center, a place where Oakland’s Black community could come together, celebrate, and feel safe.
But now, that vision feels fragile.
“I Just Wanted to Do Something Good…”
The emotional toll of the shooting came through clearly in a video Chef Cleaz posted to Instagram just hours after the violence. In the footage, yellow police tape winds around a blood-stained table. His voice trembles as he narrates what no chef should ever have to.
“I just wanted to do something good,”
he says, shaking his head, clearly overwhelmed.
“We built this place to bring people together. To give our community something to be proud of. And now… I don’t know what comes next.”
He didn’t hide his heartbreak or his doubt about the future of Pierre Pierre—a restaurant born from his dreams, now scarred by bullets.
The shooting at Pierre Pierre is not an isolated incident. Oakland has seen a troubling surge in violence in 2025, including a fatal shooting in West Oakland on April 25 and a homicide near a local school on April 11. For many residents, these moments feel like a pattern rather than a fluke—an ongoing fight to hold on to hope in a city where too many bright lights are dimmed by tragedy.
Local businesses, especially those trying to revitalize downtown Oakland, are feeling the pressure. The Tribune Tower, once a symbol of Oakland’s media glory, had become a sign of downtown’s cultural comeback. Pierre Pierre was a cornerstone of that effort. Now, its future hangs in the balance.
The Oakland Police Department is handling the shooting investigation, and so far, no one has been arrested, and no motive has been announced. Police are interviewing witnesses and analyzing evidence.
The police spokesperson called on anyone with information to report it.
“We are committed to identifying those persons,”
he stated,
“but we need the help of the public.”
“Pierre Pierre was supposed to be a safe space, a celebration of Black culture and flavor,”
wrote one user.
“Now it might close before it ever got the chance to truly thrive.”
Another added,
“We can’t keep losing our sanctuaries. Our joy. Our healing spaces.”
The shooting has sent ripples through Oakland’s social media scene. On X, users posted prayers for the victims and shared grief over what this attack means for one of the city’s most promising spaces.
