Update, June 13, 1:20 p.m. Berkeley police said in a press release that “the occupants of two separate cars, a dark colored Honda and a dark colored BMW got into some sort of verbal dispute at the gas station at Ashby and 7th. The BMW pulled out and the Honda followed it. Preliminarily, it appears that an occupant or occupants of the Honda shot at the BMW. Both cars fled the area prior to BPD arrival. As per protocol, BPD alerted the area hospitals to call BPD if any victims of gunshot wounds arrived. No victim or victim(s) have come forward. Officers found one bullet strike on a building at 7th and Ashby as well as a parked truck.”
Original story: Berkeley Police are investigating a drive-by shooting Wednesday night that shattered the glass in several windows in the Wells Fargo building at Potter and Seventh streets, near Ashby Avenue.
Berkeleyside readers reported a “huge police presence” on Potter, and said the street was closed between Seventh and Ninth streets while police combed the area for evidence. One reader said six to eight squad cars were posted on the Seventh Street end of the block and at the 76 gas station across Potter from Wells Fargo. More cruisers were stationed on the Ninth Street end of the block: “It looked like the crime scene van in the middle of the blocked part of Potter Street.”
Berkeley Police Sgt. Sean Ross said callers reported hearing several shots fired on Potter just before 9 p.m. Police who responded found shell casings in the area, and three windows damaged in the Wells Fargo building. Ross said police believe two vehicles were involved in the shooting, but that both were gone before police arrived.
There were no victims on scene and no injuries had been reported to the Berkeley Police Department as of about 11:35 p.m.
Ross said Potter was closed to traffic from Seventh to Ninth until roughly 11 p.m.
A witness on the scene told Berkeleyside that he saw a car with its passenger door ajar back out of the 76 gas station and then head east on Potter. It was pursued by a second vehicle, a black BMW, that accelerated in reverse down Potter as it followed the first car. The witness said he heard “a bunch” of shots being fired, but could not see where they came from, as he left the area seeking a safer location prior to calling police.
Police said it was as yet undetermined whether the casings found on Potter came from more than one firearm. Sgt. Ross said police are not yet releasing the number or type of casings that were recovered, or additional information about the involved vehicles.
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