Berkeley police have arrested a 43-year-old man on suspicion of attempted homicide following the city’s 23rd incident of gunfire so far this year Monday.
Both the suspected shooter and the victim called the police, with the suspect, a tenant in an apartment building in the 2500 block of Hillegass Avenue, reporting that he believed he had shot a burglar, police said. The victim was instead a maintenance worker summoned by the suspect himself, police said.
“The tenant had made a maintenance request and provided approval for maintenance to enter the apartment if there was no answer at the door. The victim made numerous attempts to get the tenant to open the door with negative results,” Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Jessica Perry wrote in a prepared statement.
Using a key to open the apartment door, the victim, standing in the hallway, saw the tenant aiming a gun, Perry said. The tenant fired once at the victim’s head, missing but hitting the doorframe, which sent wood particles into the victim’s face, Perry said.
As the victim fled down the hallway, the tenant followed and fired again, hitting the victim in the leg, then went back inside his apartment and called the police, Perry said. Police received 911 calls from the suspect and victim around 11:41 a.m. Monday.
Police arrested the tenant on suspicion of attempted homicide and took him to the Berkeley City Jail, Perry said. He was later listed as being in custody at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, held without bail.
The Berkeley Fire Department treated the maintenance worker, who was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The tenant is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday. Berkeleyside has opted not to name him until the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office confirms formal charges against him.
The Berkeley Scanner first reported the incident.
