Police are investigating a shooting in southwest Berkeley that sent a 16-year-old girl to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg on Thursday night, authorities report.
The Berkeley Police Department began receiving reports of a shooting in the 1100 block of Channing Way, near Byron Street, at about 7:30 p.m., according to emergency dispatch traffic reviewed by Berkeleyside.
One caller reported hearing two pops and told police a female was bleeding.
Officers immediately responded to the scene to investigate. The Berkeley Fire Department took the girl to Highland Hospital for treatment, according to emergency radio traffic. She is expected to survive, police said.
Just after 8 p.m., police asked community members to “Avoid travel on Byron from Bancroft to Blake and Channing from San Pablo to Browning.”
There have been 33 shootings in Berkeley in 2021, five of which have left people wounded. Last year at this time, there had been 24 confirmed gunfire calls.
Councilmember Terry Taplin, who represents much of West Berkeley, wrote about the shooting on Twitter.
“This violence is a cancer. We have a responsibility to our constituents to act. Failing to do so has real world consequences,” he wrote. “No more time for hand-wringing & inaction. Our families work too hard for this.”
Taplin and Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani will be meeting with neighbors Saturday afternoon, in a previously scheduled event, to hear about local concerns.
Berkeleyside will update this story when additional information is provided.