Many readers got in touch Tuesday night with questions about the sound of gunfire in South Berkeley.
Berkeley Police Lt. Angela Hawk said BPD got several calls about the noise just after 9 p.m.
The “loud reports” calls were centered around Oregon Street and McGee Avenue, she said.
One local resident said on Twitter he “heard what sounded like automatic weapons fire” in “one sustained burst.” Another said the intersection was taped off after authorities arrived.
Officers found bullet casings and several damaged parked vehicles when they responded to the scene.
Hawk said no injuries had been reported, however.
The investigation is ongoing.
It’s at least the second confirmed shooting in Berkeley so far this year. Earlier this month, Jan. 14, police in Berkeley handled a slew of calls about extensive gunfire at Acton and Russell streets, .4 miles west from Oregon and McGee. People in the area after the shooting reported bullet casings littering the street.
And just before New Year’s, on Dec. 29, a child received minor injuries from shattered glass that resulted from a shooting in the 1400 block of Ward Street, which is .5 miles west of Tuesday night’s call.
This Sunday, Jan. 29, from 2-4 p.m. in the San Pablo Park auditorium, at 2800 Park St., Berkeley City Council member Cheryl Davila, Mayor Jesse Arreguín, and Berkeley police staff will hold a community meeting to discuss the spate of violence.
In a recent post about the upcoming event, on community social network Nextdoor, Davila wrote that the violence “is terrifying and a threat to community safety and security.”
She said she has set up a private meeting Thursday with BPD representatives including Chief Andrew Greenwood and Capt. Jennifer Louis, and would be pushing for “a greater police presence and more consistent and timely use of the NIXILE [sic] communication system.”
She called it “a short-term response” that is also “an important step toward the community feeling more secure.”
Davila also wrote on Nextdoor that her office planned to set up a town hall meeting in February focused on community safety “that will include presentations from community and public agency programs that have supported a reduction in and the prevention of gun violence, homicide and injuries as well as other forms of violence.”
The next step after that event, she wrote, would be to bring “policy and programmatic recommendations” to the Berkeley City Council and unspecified city commissions.
Police ask anyone with information about the gunfire to call 510-981-5900.
