Update: Police later identified the men as Dante Oliver, 38 (no address listed), and Jessie McAllister, 26, of Oakland. Authorities said they linked the men to other gun crimes on the same night.
Original story: Police arrested two men outside the 7-Eleven in Southside Berkeley after hearing gunfire there Sunday night, authorities report.
Berkeley Police Lt. Spencer Fomby said an officer heard the gunfire shortly after 10 p.m.
Officers responded to 2601 Telegraph Ave. (at Parker Street) and saw two men at the 7-Eleven.
Police watched the men from a distance for a period of time, Fomby said. When the men began to leave the area, walking east on Parker, police stopped them. During the stop, one of the men dropped a pistol with an extended magazine, Fomby said. (That device is used to hold extra ammunition.)
Officers took the men into custody and recovered the gun. The men’s names were not available as of publication time.
During the investigation, police found casings in the 7-Eleven parking lot but no victims, Fomby said.
It was the 11th confirmed gunfire call in Berkeley in 2020. Two of those incidents left people dead.
On June 15, a 19-year-old UC Berkeley student was shot in the head while walking in his neighborhood. No arrests have been made in that investigation. A $50,000 reward has been offered to help solve the case.
In March, authorities charged a Richmond couple after an apparent road rage incident that month left a 29-year-old man dead.
In April, a woman was wounded in a shooting near People’s Park.
Several of the incidents had no reported victims: at the Berkeley Marina in February, and in North Berkeley and West Berkeley in March.
Police also found evidence of gunfire in the 1600 block of Russell Street in April; and in June in the 2400 block of Curtis Street, at Ninth Street and Channing Way, and at Oregon and California streets.
Berkeleyside will update this story when additional details are available.
