Editorials

Ballistic tests performed by the Berkeley Police Department last week showed that the handgun used in a June robbery in Albany was the same weapon used in three earlier Berkeley shootings. 

Berkeley resident Jose Mejia, 20, who is in police custody awaiting trial on charges of robbing a Church’s Fried Chicken on the 1200 block of San Pablo Avenue on June 11, is now being held for three shootings in May and June as well. 

None of the shooting victims were fatally wounded, and all have been released from treatment centers, according to police. 

The first shooting occurred on May 24, when a city employee taking a lunch break was approached by a man in the parking lot of the Berkeley health and human services office on Sixth Street. The man said nothing and shot the city employee in the leg.  

On June 4, a gunman opened fire on the street and struck a vehicle on the 2400 block of Seventh Street. 

Less than a week later, on June 10, a man and his wife were approached by a man on the 2300 block of Acton Street as they took an evening walk. The gunman shot the man in the arm and the woman in the chest. 

Police suspect Mejia is responsible for all three shootings. 

Mejia was arrested by police after the June 11 robbery. A witness wrote down the license plate number on the suspect’s car after the incident, leading police to Mejia’s Berkeley home. 

“The suspect was barricaded in the attic for a number of hours,” said Lieutenant Cynthia Harris of the Berkeley Police Department. 

After a brief stand-off, police entered the house by force when Mejia refused to come out voluntarily. 

Mejia will remain in police custody until his arraignment. No date has been set for the proceedings.