Update, 5 a.m. BPD identified the arrested individuals as Kenneth Brown and Reginald Jackson, both 21 and from Berkeley, as well as a 16-year-old from Berkeley. Brown and Jackson were arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm, possession of a large-capacity magazine, carrying a loaded and concealed weapon, probation violation and other offenses. The 16-year-old was arrested in connection with the weapon. Jackson, who is unemployed, has previously been identified by police as a Berkeley gang member. Brown, a dishwasher, was convicted on a gun case in 2017 and later released on probation, according to court records online. Jackson is being held on $200,000 bail, and Brown on $180,000. They are set for arraignment Wednesday.
Original story, 1:16 a.m. Police arrested two men and a teenager, and recovered two firearms, after gunfire startled South Berkeley neighbors near San Pablo Park on Saturday night, authorities report.
Officers began to receive reports of possible gunfire near the south end of the park around 9:30 p.m., said Lt. Dave Lindenau of the Berkeley Police Department. During their investigation, officers found evidence of gunfire at Mabel and Russell streets, and detained three people on Mabel just north of Ashby Avenue. During the detention, officers found two firearms and arrested the trio, Lindenau said.
A short time later, Lindenau said a man showed up to tell police someone had shot at him while he was driving through the neighborhood. He identified at least one member of the detained group as a “cousin,” and Lindenau said police believe the shooter or shooters who targeted the man remain at large. No injuries have been reported.
Community members on Twitter began asking Berkeleyside about the gunfire at 9:43 p.m.: “multiple shots heard in the San Pablo Park vicinity. Any word? Sounds like shell casings found at Mabel and Russell.” Another person said he heard “some pops maybe 6 of them and cops going down Oregon st.”
A community member on private social network Nextdoor also was looking for answers after seeing police in the area and streets blocked off: “Anyone know what this street closure is about? Investigators on the scene with officers and street had crime scene tape. Did anyone hear gunshots?”
Lindenau said officers who responded to the call initially found the shooting scene at Russell and Mabel, then saw three people nearby. One ran from police into some bushes, then came back out. Police stopped the group, found two firearms, and ultimately arrested two men and a teenager in connection with firearm possession and other violations, Lindenau said.
Their names were not immediately available due to the early stage of the investigation.
During the detention, a man showed up to report having been shot at while driving nearby, Lindenau said. He told police he had left his car — which had been struck by bullets — on the other side of the park. He then walked back to make the report.
Lindenau said police are still trying to determine the dynamics of what happened but, of the arrested individuals and the man who identified himself as the victim, Lindenau explained, “It doesn’t seem like they were shooting at him.”
The investigation is ongoing.
A 22-year-old man was killed just south of San Pablo Park, at Mabel and Burnett streets, in a shooting in 2016. His family still lives in the neighborhood and has painted a memorial mural on their home in remembrance of Alex Goodwin Jr.
More recently, in April of this year, police found casings at Mabel and Burnett, and several blocks east, in the 1600 block of Russell Street, on the other side of Sacramento Street. There was also damage to a home on Mabel, but no victims were found at either scene.
In March, a man was shot in the hand in the 1600 block of Russell. He was expected to survive, authorities said at the time. Police also found a crashed vehicle and damage to multiple cars that night.
In January, police were called to the area of Grove Park, near Sports Basement, for reports of gunfire. But no injuries or property damage were reported.
There have been no homicides in Berkeley in 2018, though a man was fatally shot just over the Berkeley border on Market Street in February. Berkeley police also responded to that neighborhood for a shooting in late April, but the Oakland Police Department handled the case and never released any information about the incident.
Berkeleyside will update this story if additional information becomes available.
