this is jeff bush reporting >>pam: a mother is killed while trying to prevent her two young children from being hit by gunfire in west oakland. this is a photograph of 30 year-old china mill pierce. just before 5 in the evening on monday she was struck by a stray bullet, as a gun battle broke out near her home on the 2800 block of chestnut street. oakland police say pierce was not connected to the two groups of people shooting at each other it was all happening just as she was getting home from work. >>: she tried to get her children to safety and was subsequently is struck with one of the rounds. >>pam: another shooting that occurred occurred a short time later outside highland hospital, may be connected to the same incident according to oakland police. the department is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest in this case. >>pam: 2 shootings in a matter of hours in the south bay. police responded to a local hospital report last night after a shooting victim checked himself in with gunshot wounds. the male victim was shot on almaden avenue near downtown san jose. several hours hours later another man was shot. this time the cambrian neighborhood