Please correct me if my impression is wrong. I have not been following the story.

As I understand what happened:

• Oscar Grant and a pack of criminals were involved in a running fight with another pack of criminals
• Police officers, outnumbered by the pack, detain Oscar and others.
• Oscar Grant struggles against the officers, and is shot.
• Local criminals proceed to riot, angered by the use of police powers against criminal packs

Am I missing something? It appears to be a scene from The Searchers come to life, with Oscar Grant and the BART playing the role of Indian raiders and the local awakening council.

A thank you to Stephen Pampinella, who mentioned the shooting in a recent blog post and attracted my attention to the Oakland Riots.