Two teenagers with serious gunshot wounds drove themselves to the hospital Saturday night but are expected to survive, authorities in Berkeley report.
Police were alerted to the shooting just before 9 p.m., said Lt. David Lindenau of the Berkeley Police Department. Calls came in about gunfire heard from the 2000 block of Oregon Street, Stuart and Adeline streets, and the 2800 block of Milvia Street. Police found shell casings in the 2800 block of Milvia during their investigation.
Witnesses told police they saw a black Porsche SUV speed away after the shooting.
Lindenau said, a short time later, two men with gunshot wounds showed up in the Porsche to Children’s Hospital Oakland. An Alameda County sheriff’s deputy stationed at the hospital alerted BPD to their presence.
The injured men parked right in front of the doors to the emergency room, police said. When officers arrived to take a closer look at the vehicle, and speak with the victims, they found “blood everywhere” in the Porsche, as well as bullet holes in the vehicle, according to authorities.
Both men who had been shot — a 19-year-old from Berkeley and an 18-year-old from Oakland — were struck numerous times and received wounds that were described as life-threatening. They were taken to a regional trauma center for treatment, however, and are expected to survive.
Police believe the men were sitting in the vehicle when the shooting took place. The men are not cooperating with the investigation, authorities said.
No information was immediately available about any suspects in the case.
Kidnapping also reported
Just after 10 p.m. Saturday, as police were still looking into the shooting, the Berkeley dispatchers got a call from a man who said he was at 1512 University Ave., at the Knights Inn, where he had dropped off a friend earlier in the night.
He told police his friend was being held for $30,000 ransom. The kidnappers wanted the money taken to the Tracy area in exchange for his friend’s life, he told police.
The investigation ultimately led to the arrest of five men with the help of police in Patterson, which is about 30 minutes south of Tracy. Authorities also found the victim in the case, along with an assault rifle in the trunk of an associated vehicle.
As of early Sunday morning, the investigation was still underway, Lindenau said.
Update, July 30: Police in Berkeley said they aren’t ready to release the motive for the kidnapping, which took place at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. They confirmed Monday that the victim, who is 21, was beaten during the incident. His city of residence has not been released.
The arrested men have been identified by police as Rodquavious Mikeon Whitehurst, 20, of Greenville, South Carolina; Racal Jamikaco Thompson, 24, an entrepreneur from Greenville, South Carolina; Jamikaco Tyrone Thompson, 27, of Greenville, South Carolina; Vacenta Rakey Rice, 27, of Fountain Inn, South Carolina; and Antravious Marquis Evans, 19, of Fountain Inn, South Carolina.
The group was arrested on suspicion of committing a kidnapping with a firearm, torture, kidnapping for ransom, kidnap to commit robbery, robbery and possession of an assault weapon.
They are scheduled for arraignment Wednesday at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland. They are all being held without bail.
Stay tuned to Berkeleyside for updates.
