OAKLAND — A teen boy shot this morning in the same East Oakland block where city officials last week condemned an unsafe apartment building is not expected to survive.

The boy, 15, was shot while sitting on a porch outside a home in the 2500 block of Foothill Boulevard around 12:30 a.m. this morning, police said. The victim was sitting with a man and two women when at least two men walked up and, before any words were spoken, at least one of them pointed a gun and began firing, Officer Jason Andersen said.

Police said they found the boy badly injured. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was determined to be brain dead and placed on life support. He is not expected to recover.

Homicide investigators were called to the scene and have been interviewing witnesses. Investigators have not ruled out gang activity as a factor in the attack.

The shooting occurred on the same block where, beginning Aug. 25, city officials evacuated apartment buildings housing almost 200 people. The apartments were without water or power, and inspectors found natural gas leaks, fire Chief Gerald Simon said.

It was the fire danger that forced tenants out immediately, though other city agencies, including the Police Department, said they were also growing worried about crime there.

Capt. Rick Orozco, the commander overseeing central Oakland, said a turf war was brewing. The Sureno street gang was putting its stamp on a neighborhood
the rival Norteno gang considered its own, he said.

Police noticed an increase in competing Sureno-Norteno graffiti on the apartment buildings and along Foothill Boulevard beginning two or three weeks ago, Orozco said. It had gotten to the point that police feared the situation could quickly escalate.