Update: Oct. 31: East Bay Regional Park District police identified the man shot and killed Tuesday night as 21-year-old Damarco J. Thomas of Stockton.
Investigators are looking for information on cars that might have been on the scene of the Tuesday shooting, according to a press release. They want information on a white Ford or Chevy style pick-up truck, extended cab, possibly a side step model. Investigators are also looking for a man spotted in the vicinity, described as a heavyset black male in his late 20s to early 30s.
Update Oct. 30: Sgt. Tyrone Davis of the EBRPD police said that video taken at the scene indicated the victim knew his assailants. “It appeared based on the interaction that prior to the event they knew each other.” Davis said it looked like there were three people at the scene at the time of the shooting. The victim was shot multiple times. Police have not yet released his name.
Original story: A man in his 20s was shot and killed Tuesday night in the parking lot of a market near the Berkeley Marina, according to East Bay Regional Park District police.
Berkeley police received a call around 8 p.m, that there had been some sort of disturbance at the Seabreeze Market, which is located at the corner of University Avenue and West Frontage Road. They arrived to find a man, whose identity was not released, lying on the ground. EBRPD police arrived as well.
Berkeley police Sgt. Tyrone Davis told the Contra Costa Times that witnesses saw “two people flee north on foot from the market after the shooting, while a car was seen fleeing south.” Police conducted an extensive air and ground search, but no suspects were found.
Police found a handgun and some shell casings nearby, according to EBRPD police, which is handling the investigation since the body was found in its jurisdiction.
The police and Alameda County coroner’s office are working together to identify the victim.
Just 10 days ago, an Oakland man allegedly carjacked a vehicle from Seabreeze Market, just one of a number of carjackings and a murder he is alleged to have committed that day.
The Alameda County district attorney’s office says Bennie Williams, 26, of Oakland used a gun around 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 19 to take a car from a 38-year-old woman. He sped off in her Prius, but police apprehended him after he crashed it near Ashby Avenue and ran from the scene. Williams has been charged with murder in connection with a killing earlier that day of 78-year-old Warner Willis of Oakland.
This is the third homicide in Berkeley this year.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact the East Bay Regional Park District Police Department Investigations Unit at 510-690-6549 or its dispatch center at 510-881-1833.
This story was updated after publication to remove a racial descriptor that was included in error. Berkeleyside will update this story as more information becomes available.
Related:
Berkeley carjacking suspect charged in Oakland murder (10.23.14)
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