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A man was wounded in the back when his Sacramento Street apartment was sprayed with about 10 bullets at 10:25 p.m. Friday. 

The shooting was the fifth reported in Berkeley in the last three weeks. 

Ramone Morales, 33, was sitting on a living room couch visiting with friends when gunfire erupted from the parking lot behind the small apartment building in the 2700 block of Sacramento Street. 

Paramedics took him to Highland Hospital in Oakland. According to hospital officials, Morales was released on Sunday after some minor surgery. 

Police said they are uncertain if the shooting was random or if the bullets were intended for Morales. 

“The case is under investigation, and right now we don’t know if Mr. Morales was the target,” Capt. Bobby Miller said adding that Morales’s was the only unit hit by gunfire. 

Miller said there were no witnesses to the shooting and currently there are no suspects. 

This incident follows a recent rash of shootings in the city. 

On Jan. 22, Rammar Johnson and Noel Turner, Jr. were found in a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds to the head at 63rd and King streets. Both men later died.  

In another incident, a man was wounded in the thigh during a domestic dispute on Jan. 28, and on Feb. 5, yet another man was wounded in the thigh by an acquaintance.  

“There is an increase in shootings from last year,” Miller said although he did not have last year’s figures immediately available. “We haven’t been able to distinguish a particular pattern or associate any of the other shootings. So far they appear to be independent of each other.” 

Miller said he was unaware if there has been a history of drug activity in the vicinity of Friday’s shooting. Councilmember Margaret Breland, who represents the neighborhood, did not return calls on Monday.  

Mayor Shirley Dean said she was alarmed to hear about the Friday shooting. 

“I’ve heard it’s possible that some of the shootings are drug related,” she said. “If that’s the case then this is a real wake up call.” 

Dean encouraged anyone who knows anything about the shooting to call the police. “The best way to fight this type of thing is with the help of the community,” she said.  

City Manager Weldon Rucker, who was on the scene of the shooting as police investigated the Friday night incident, said the recent shootings are an indication that there needs to be some changes in the neighborhood. 

“In addition to police we also plan to have City Services take a look at some of the businesses and blighted properties in the area that might be contributing to the problem,” he said.