Update, April 28: The man who was shot in People’s Park on Friday was Calvin Kelley, according to his sister Porshia Garvin. She said Kelley had four children ages 5 to 18 and loved to play chess and pinochle in the park. “Calvin was always in the park. If we wanted to know where Calvin was, we went to the park,” said Garvin. Police came to Garvin’s home Friday night to inform her of Kelley’s death, she said.
Garvin said she did not know of any connection between Kelley and Stefon Jefferson, whom UC Berkeley police have named as a possible suspect in the case. She said Kelley was not related to the other two men Jefferson allegedly killed.
Original story: A 43-year-old Oakland man who is suspected of killing two men on Friday — including a long-time city of Berkeley maintenance worker — may also be connected to the homicide in Berkeley’s People’s Park on Friday, according to UC Berkeley police.
Stefon Jefferson was charged with attempted murder on Saturday in Douglas County, Nevada where he had been arrested after he shot a Douglas County Sheriff’s Department sergeant in the left hand during a high-speed chase on Friday, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.
Jefferson is also suspected of killing a man around 10:14 a.m. on Friday in the 4100 block of Market St. in Oakland, and shooting another man in the Bayview district in San Francisco Friday afternoon, according to police.
UC Berkeley police are now investigating whether it was Jefferson who double-parked a car on Dwight Way in Southside Berkeley, hopped out and walked to the western edge of the People’s Park and shot a man in the head around 2:45 p.m. The man later died.
Neither police nor the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department has released the victim’s name, but his friends in the park said he was called Cal. They said he was 34, married, and had four young children. Cal frequently visited the park to play dominos or chess, his friends said.
“Our investigators are in communication with detectives from the Oakland Police Department and the San Francisco Police Department regarding the homicide suspect who was arrested in Nevada later that day, and we are also considering him a suspect in the People’s Park homicide,” UC Berkeley police wrote in a Nixle alert.
UC Berkeley Police Sgt. Sabrina Reich said the victim’s name can’t be released yet since this is a multi-agency investigation which is ongoing.
Oakland police have not released the name of the man killed in Oakland, but numerous news agencies who went to the scene and spoke with neighbors said he was Marcus Jackson, a relative of Jefferson’s. Jackson who worked in Berkeley’s public works department and who was about to celebrate his 20th anniversary with the city, according to CBS Local.
Mayor Jesse Arreguín confirmed to Berkeleyside that Jackson was working for the city and was the person killed.
“My heart goes out to his family,” said Arreguín. “It’s shocking for all of us to hear about the shooting. The loss of any city employee affects our whole organization.”
The city will do some sort of recognition of Jackson, but the exact nature of it hasn’t been determined, said Arreguín. “I’m sure it will really impact many people in the public works department,” he said.
“In the past when there have been deaths of city employees, the city has provided counseling and resources to help people cope with the loss. I don’t see a reason why the city would not do so in this case.”
The sergeant who was shot in the hand had surgery and is doing well, according to a Facebook post by Douglas County. He was due to be released from the hospital Saturday but will need additional surgery.
The Friday shooting was the first shooting death in People’s Park, according to UCPD Lt. Bill Kasiske. The last homicide in Berkeley was in January 2017.
The park is marking its 50th anniversary. Construction first started on April 20, 1969, and the park was fenced off after massive protests, a death and numerous injuries on May 15, 1969. Park regulars are hosting a celebration of the park on Sunday. It will include a remembrance of Cal, said Lisa Teague, who lives across the street.
“At the moment, the plan is to gather in a circle on the lawn at the end of the concert stage so that we can hold space for the anger, pain, and grief that are affecting the community,” said Teague “Also, several of the scheduled speakers, including Ed Monroe, are planning to talk about the shooting and its impact on People’s Park and our community as we move forward into our next 50 years.”
Update: April 29: UC Berkeley police confirmed in a Nixle alert that the man killed was Calvin Kelley, 43,of Berkeley.
