Berkeley police arrested two Waterfront gang members and seized six firearms — including two assault weapons — during an operation involving simultaneous search warrants in four Bay Area cities early Thursday morning, authorities report.
The operation stemmed from Berkeley PD’s investigation into a daytime shoot-out Sept. 4 on and around Addison Street that terrified families in George Florence Park and prompted Councilmember Terry Taplin to call an emergency community meeting.
“The trauma that gun violence inflicts takes a toll on our neighborhoods. I hope this brings some degree of closure to the neighborhood,” Taplin told Berkeleyside shortly after publication Friday. “For me, this is a reminder of the work that needs to be done to both prevent violence from happening in the first place and to protect the community when violence does occur. I commend BPD and am committed to working with my colleagues to improve the safety of our city.”
Details about exactly what happened that day have remained scarce due to the ongoing investigation, but there were at least two shooting scenes, police have said, on Addison and 10th Street near George Florence Park and around the corner near Rosa Parks Elementary School.
“During the September daytime shooting, several bystanders in the area had to run for cover — as suspects fired multiple bullets without regard for anyone else,” police said in a statement Friday. “During the investigation, witness accounts, video surveillance, and automated license plate readers from other jurisdictions assisted investigators in identifying suspects.”
Police served Thursday’s search warrants at about 4 a.m. in Berkeley at Addison and Ninth streets, and at undisclosed locations in Santa Rosa, San Pablo and Vallejo. During the operation, police arrested two people they identified as Waterfront gang members.
In Santa Rosa, police arrested 19-year-old Keion Stone — a resident of that city — on suspicion of assault with a firearm on a person, willful discharge with gross negligence and shooting at an unoccupied vehicle. Stone’s bail was originally set at $135,000, according to booking records online. As of Friday, he was no longer in custody.
Stone is scheduled for arraignment Monday at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin.
In Vallejo, police arrested a 17-year-old boy from that city on suspicion of the same criminal allegations Stone is facing. No further information was immediately available about that arrest due to confidentiality laws that protect minors.
As a result of the search warrants, police said they seized two assault weapons, four handguns, a 50-round drum magazine and ammunition at multiple locations.
In BPD’s statement Friday, the department credited the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and police in Santa Rosa, Vallejo and San Pablo — as well as BPD’s own officers — for their efforts during this week’s operation.
“The Berkeley Police Department takes great pride in keeping our community safe,” BPD said. “We appreciate the public’s support and are pleased that we were able to bring justice to those who wish to do harm to our community.”
There have been at least 36 shootings in Berkeley this year and police have gotten more than 80 guns off the street, according to recent data from BPD.
