Update, Dec. 6, 1:40 p.m. About 16 hours after a shooting following a robbery in North Berkeley, BPD has released a statement about the incident. Berkeleyside broke the news of the crime shortly after 10 p.m.
In a statement at 1:35 p.m. Wednesday, police said a 32-year-old man had been shot in the leg when he resisted attempts by two people to take his backpack from him. The man had just parked his car when two people walked up behind him and accosted him at Vine Street and Bonita Avenue just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“The victim resisted and the suspected [sic] shot him. The suspect then dragged the victim to the sidewalk while the victim continued to hold onto his backpack. The suspect then fired the weapon two more times at the victim. Ultimately the victim let go of the backpack and both suspects were last seen running south on Bonita Avenue,” according to the police statement.
The suspects were described as two black men, one of whom was 20-30 with a large build wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, and the other had a thin build and wore a black hooded sweatshirt.
BPD said several people called 911 after hearing the sound of gunfire followed by a man “yelling in distress.” The injured man was treated at the hospital and later released, police said.
Police have not responded to an inquiry about why details of the shooting were so slow to be released. They asked community members with information about the case to call the Berkeley Police Robbery Detail at 510-981-5741.
Update, 10:47 p.m. BPD has confirmed the accuracy of the following report. No additional details have been released.
Original story, 10:12 p.m. Authorities have responded to a report of a shooting in North Berkeley at Vine Street and Bonita Avenue.
Police got calls about the shooting just after 9:30 p.m., according to unconfirmed scanner traffic reviewed by Berkeleyside, and community members who heard the noise.
One person was taken by ambulance to a local trauma center. Berkeleyside has requested information from BPD but is still awaiting confirmation.
The ambulance initially was transporting the patient “Code 2,” according to scanner traffic. That’s described online as “an acute but non-time critical response.” During the journey, the ambulance upgraded the response to Code 3, which involves the use of lights and sirens.
One local resident who lives nearby said he “heard two shots maybe 3-4 seconds apart.”
Another reader heard “a series of noises that sounded like gunfire or firecrackers.”
He described the scene at 9:38 p.m.: “So far two police cars racing north from MLK/Cedar up MLK, and two police cars racing west down Cedar from MLK. I also hear several other police cars in the distance.”
Police remained on the scene as of about 10 p.m. taking statements and canvassing in the area.
Berkeleyside updated this report after more information became available.
