A parents' routine became their nightmare Friday, when their 5-year-old son was caught in a hail of gunfire outside a busy East Oakland taco truck.

Gabriel Martinez, the son of the truck's owner, became the 110^th homicide victim of the year. He is the third child in Oakland to die by gunfire since August. 

His assailant had just ordered food from the truck at 55th Avenue and International Boulevard about 8:30 p.m. when he opened fire, according to police, then fled into the passenger’s seat of a nearby car.

A half hour later, Gabriel was declared dead at Children’s Hospital.

Friends and family said they believe the gunman was targeting someone else in the lot where the truck was parked. Police are still looking for the suspect, who they describe as black, between 20- and 29-years-old, about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds, with short hair, a light complexion, glasses and wearing dark clothing. They say the woman is black, between 20- and 25-years-old, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 130 pounds, with long hair and wearing a red jacket.

On Saturday, friends, family and neighbors gathered outside the fenced parking lot where Gabriel Martinez Sr., the boy’s father, ran his business for close to 20 years. Gabriel's mother was working inside the truck at the time of the shooting.

“Instead of my son, why didn’t he kill me?” said the boy's uncle, Jorge Martinez, describing the father’s reaction to the shooting. Martinez watched, red-eyed, as friends placed stuffed animals and lit candles that they added to the makeshift memorial.

“It hurts a lot,” he said.

The boy’s father was born in Mexico and moved to the United States more than 20 years ago, a member of a tight-knit family in the East Bay that owns many catering trucks and restaurants. He has a 2-year-old daughter with another woman, and owns the truck and a seafood restaurant down the block, friends and family said. The family lives in Alameda, where Gabriel was expected to begin kindergarten.

“He was always in and out,” because of the businesses, Jorge Martinez said.

On Friday night, 5-year-old Gabriel, who often played in the parking lot while his parents worked, scampered amid the usual crowd of customers while his father unloaded soda. He beckoned his son to return a few minutes later.

“Time to go,” he said, Martinez recalled. 

Seconds later, with Gabriel almost at his side, shots rang out. Martinez tried to comfort his son, “Don’t worry, don’t be scared,” he said, according to Jorge Martinez. Then, he realized, Gabriel had been shot in the chest. He scooped his bleeding son into his arms, crying.

The man fled to a light-colored, four-door American model sedan, according to police, driven by a woman. The suspects remained at-large Saturday night. 

By then, the family had returned to their home in Alameda to begin planning the little boy's funeral. Friends and relatives mixed among residents, mourning the boy’s loss and the frequency of violence in the neighborhood.

“Everyone in my family has taco trucks,” said Manuel Pelayo, a cousin. “Everyone live close. The shootings happen every night, especially in this area.”

Ten blocks up International Boulevard, Carlitos Nava was killed in a drive-by shooting in August. Another toddler, Hiram Lawrence, was killed in a shooting outside a West Oakland liquor store last month. None of the bullets were intended for the children, police said. Only Nava’s case has resulted in arrests. 

“It’s the guns. There are too many guns out here,” said one man, while another complained about out-of-control gangs.

Brenda Pelayo, Manuel Pelayo’s daughter, said she had grown tired of the conversation.

“Everyone’s just talking about how it’s just another kid who get shot in Oakland. They’re not shocked,” she said. “I think that the people make Oakland this way.”

Anyone with information about the shooting may call police at 510-238-3326 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.