Update, 1 p.m. The Albany Police Department released a new statement at 1 p.m. According to the statement, police entered the Brighton Avenue apartment building at 8 a.m. and arrested Kent Stinson, 62. They recovered a .22 caliber rifle and ammunition, as well as a BB gun pistol believed to have been used to damage the victim’s car during the incident initially reported to police.
During the initial incident, the victims told police they heard the suspect say he had a “carbine.” According to the police statement, “The suspect remained in his residential apartment and was not responsive to police attempts to contact him. During attempts to contact the suspect, officers on scene observed him walking around inside his apartment with a rifle.”
Officers from the El Cerrito, Kensington and Berkeley police departments helped cordon off the area near Brighton and Kains. Police said the apartment complex’s residential units were evacuated for safety while officers continued to try to establish communication with the man inside. Residents were evacuated to the Albany Community Center where they were provided shelter and refreshments.
Update, 10 a.m. The suspect who was apprehended Wednesday morning was shooting a BB gun from a window in the Brighton apartment building and threatening to kill neighbors, claiming he had a machine gun, according to Mr. Singh (who didn’t want to give his first name), a neighbor who spoke with Berkeleyside reporter Emilie Raguso at around 9:45 a.m. this morning.
Singh returned home with a work colleague Tuesday night and was transferring equipment into his car when he heard a “bing bing” noise and looked up at a window of his apartment building, he said. “I saw my neighbor duck down. He had been shooting with a BB gun,” he said. “He said, ‘I have a machine gun and I am going to kill you.’”
Singh said there had been no previous disputes with the neighbor, and added he thought the neighbor might be suffering from a mental illness.
Update, 9:40 a.m.: The suspect who was involved with a standoff with Albany police throughout much of the early hours of Wednesday, Dec. 19, has been taken into custody, reports Emilie Raguso from the scene. Police broke down the door of a home in the Brighton apartment building at 1117 Brighton Avenue in Albany to apprehend the suspect. According to neighbors, some residents of the apartment building were evacuated to a community center early this morning. Three or four families were able to return to their homes by 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Albany Police reported that at around 12:45 a.m. on Dec. 19 they responded to a house on the corner of Brighton and Kains avenues after a 911 caller reported a person was threatening to shoot two people on the street and then shot at them with an unidentified firearm.
The incident did not affect Albany High School which is eight blocks away from the scene of the standoff. Principal Ted Barone sent a message to the school community saying police did not believe nearby schools were in danger. Albany Middle School is about five blocks away.
During the standoff, police closed many surrounding streets: San Pablo Avenue east to Stannage, and Garfield north to El Cerrito Plaza.
The headline to this story and some of the content have been modified to reflect developments.
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