A former Berkeley High student has been charged with 13 felonies, including attempted murder and child abuse, after three shootings in Berkeley this year, two of which left teenage boys with injuries.
Two of the shootings took place in September. In one, Sept. 18, a cyclist shot at a pickup truck near Oregon and Dohr streets. No one was injured, although bullets hit a number of houses, police said. The shooting was not random.
Several days later, Sept. 21, a 16-year-old boy was shot when gunfire was exchanged between pedestrians and occupants in a truck at Sacramento Street at Russell Street at 5:40 p.m., police said.
The other shooting took place in May in a San Pablo Park bathroom during a drug deal, police said in court papers. On Friday, police arrested 22-year-old Jahkyl Knight in connection with the September shootings and, according to court papers, he confessed to the San Pablo Park incident as well.
Read more about shootings in Berkeley.
According to court documents, Knight told police he went to the park May 17 to sell some marijuana. He said he and the buyer had a dispute about the amount, and “the victim told him he would take his Marijuana from him and started walking toward him.”
Knight said he pulled out his gun and shot the buyer.
“Knight stated that the victim fell to the ground and that he then stood over him and shot him multiple times while he was on the ground,” police wrote. He told police he fled the scene, but dropped his scale as he ran.
When police responded to the scene, they found casings from a gun, and they also found the scale. The victim, who survived his injuries, refused to cooperate.
But police got a tip that the shooter was named “J.T.,” according to court papers. Berkeley Police investigator Kyle White wrote that he has “had prior contacts with an individual by the name ‘J.T.’,” and that it is a nickname used by Knight.
Witnesses who saw Knight’s photo identified him to police as the person who left the park after the shooting. One of those witnesses saw Knight on his cellphone, according to court documents, and “remembered Knight saying, ‘Got ’em,’ or ‘I got ’em.’”
According to Knight’s Facebook page, he attended Berkeley High School and lives in Richmond. Police said his official address is in Berkeley.
Knight was charged Tuesday by the Alameda County district attorney’s office with attempted murder for the San Pablo Park shooting, along with other charges related to having a loaded gun. He was also charged with shooting at a moving vehicle, and related offenses, for the Sept. 18 and Sept. 21 incidents.
He has also been charged with assault with a firearm and child abuse in connection with the Sept. 21 shooting.
Special allegations from the DA’s office, if proven, would classify some of the crimes as violent and could increase the penalties Knight faces and also send him to prison.
Knight remains in custody where he is being held at Santa Rita Jail without bail. His next court date was not listed in Alameda County sheriff’s office records online.
Update, 12 p.m. Sgt. Andrew Frankel, Berkeley Police spokesman, said police arrested Knight on Friday during a response to other reports of gunfire in South Berkeley. No injuries were reported that night.
Frankel said two other people were being taken into custody for resisting arrest or obstruction when an officer noticed Knight in the area and recognized him as someone Berkeley police investigators wanted to speak with.
Knight was taken into custody and a firearm was recovered, Frankel said.
Berkeleyside will update this story if additional information is made available.
Related:
Police respond to gunfire reports in South Berkeley (10.29.16)
Berkeley police step up patrols after recent shootings (09.23.16)
Police respond to gunfire calls; teenage boy struck (09.21.16)
2 feuding groups go on shooting spree through West Berkeley (09.20.16)
Young man shot multiple times in San Pablo Park (05.17.16)
2 feuding groups go on shooting spree through West Berkeley (09.20.16)
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