Update, Aug. 24, 12:10 p.m. Berkeley Police arrested Perry Lee Jackson, 39, of Oakland Thursday night for assault with a deadly weapon and drug-related charges, according to BPD spokesman Officer Byron White. White said there was an exchange of gunfire between a black compact sedan and Jackson who jumped in the bay, apparently in an attempt to escape the shots. Jackson was found to be in possession of “a quantity of heroin and cocaine” and was taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries, after which he was taken into custody. White said he believes the weapons involved were handguns. The car involved in the incident left the scene before the police arrived. The case is under investigation.
Original story: An “exchange of gunfire” drew police to the Berkeley Marina on Thursday night where they found bullet casings and a man who had been pulled from the water with a “separate injury,” authorities report.
Lt. Angela Hawk of the Berkeley Police Department said multiple calls came into the station at 9 p.m. “about an exchange of gunfire with multiple shots fired in the marina.”
Officers who responded to the scene found casings in a parking lot near J dock, which a Berkeleyside reader described as near the Hana Japan restaurant and the marina office.
Hawk said police have not found any gunshot victims, but said “a man was pulled from the water and was transported to an area hospital for a separate injury.” No further detail about his injury was available.
There had been no arrests, as of about midnight, and the investigation is ongoing, Hawk said.
Writing on Twitter, Dan Brekke said he heard “what sounded like semi-automatic gunfire in the distance” at 9 a.m. He turned on the scanner and heard the initial police reports about the shooting.
About 9 p.m., I hear what sounded like semi-automatic gunfire in the distance. I turn on the #Berkeley police scanner. A minute later, I hear the beginning of a response a shooting at the J dock in the Berkeley marina, near the Hana Japan restaurant. …— Dan Brekke (@danbrekke) August 24, 2018
According to unconfirmed scanner reports, callers heard screaming at the time of the shooting and said people were “yelling and running around” near J dock. Several people reported vehicles leaving the marina just after the shooting. The window in one parked vehicle may have been struck in the volley.
Police assigned numerous officers to take statements from witnesses, and called local hospitals to see if anyone with gunshot wounds had come in, according to the scanner audio. None had as of the time of this report.
A Berkeleyside reader, who was the first to alert us to the incident, said he was told by witnesses that “one person ran into the water and swam as he was being shot at.” Two kayakers reportedly pulled the man onto the dock.
“There were several police cars and an ambulance/fire truck at the scene when I walked by,” said the reader. “I did not witness the shooting.”
Hawk said the details of the shooting, such as whether people on foot or in vehicles were involved, were not yet known.
“We are still trying to piece this together,” she said shortly before midnight.
