Oakland police ask protesters to leave

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Citing a strain on limited crime-fighting resources, a police officers' union pleaded with Occupy Oakland protesters Friday to leave their encampment at the City Hall plaza where a man was shot to death the night before.

The shooting occurred the same day a 35-year-old military veteran fatally shot himself in a tent at a Burlington, Vt., Occupy encampment. On Friday, a man was found dead inside a tent at the Occupy Salt Lake City encampment, from what police said was a combination of drug use and carbon monoxide.

Those incidents and tensions at other camps have put pressure on leaders around the country to take decisive action to shut down the protests.

"Tonight's incident underscores the reason why the encampment must end," Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said Thursday. "The risks are too great."

The Oakland Police Officers Association, which represents rank-and-file police, issued an open letter to protesters saying they are pulling officers away from crime-plagued neighborhoods.

A preliminary investigation into the gunfire suggests it resulted from a fight between two groups of men at or near the encampment, police Chief Howard Jordan said. Protesters said there was no connection between the shooting and the camp.

In Vermont, police said a preliminary investigation shows the man shot himself in the head in a tent in City Hall Park. His name was being withheld because not all of his family has been notified.

The shooting raised questions about whether the protest would be allowed to continue, said Burlington police Deputy Chief Andi Higbee.

"Our responsibility is to keep the public safe. When there is a discharge of a firearm in a public place like this, it's good cause to be concerned, greatly concerned," Higbee said.

In Portland, Ore., tensions are also running high at a 300-tent encampment, which has become a hub for the city's homeless people and addicts.

Mayor Sam Adams ordered the camp shut down, saying the tipping point came this week with the arrest of a camper suspected of setting off a firebomb outside an office building, as well as two nonfatal drug overdoses at the camp.

"I cannot wait for someone to die," he said. "I cannot wait for someone to use the camp as camouflage to inflict bodily harm on others."