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A bullet fired by a cyclist near the corner of Julia and California streets blasted through the windows of a city Seniors Van, missing the driver and two passengers Tuesday morning. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies said that shots were fir ed by two teenage bicyclists who opened fire on two men in a passing car. No arrests have been made, he said. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz cited the incident as the latest in “an unusually high number of calls in the 1500 block of Russell [Street],” including “man with a gun” and “loud report” calls—the latter being police lingo for “shots fired.” 

A Monday afternoon probation search of an ex-convict who lives on the block turned up a sawed-off shotgun and resulted in three charges against the 20-year-old. 

Okies said the man was booked on suspicion of four charges: possession of an illegal weapon, being an ex-con in possession of a firearm, an attached enhancement of being a member of a street gang, and probation violation. 

The one-block stretch of Russel l Street is the apparent hub of violence that is occurring along a four-block stretch of California Street. 

As a result, the city manager reported in a “Safety Bulletin” sent to city councilmembers and several city staff members, the city is spending fun ds from a violence suppression grant to increase police presence on the block. 

“An e-mail alert was distributed by the police department ... to the surrounding area as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to keep the community informed about crime events in the neighborhood,” Kamlarz noted. 

The most notable police presence is the department’s big black-and-white Mobile Command Vehicle and its crew, which was stationed at the northwest corner of the Russell and California intersection Thursday afternoon. 

“We had already stepped up patrols in the area after we received a number of ‘loud report’ calls over the weekend,” Okies said. “We added the command vehicle following the shooting Tuesday.” 

Neighbors believe the apartment buildings along Russell Street are a center of drug activity, and Okies said that “in the past there has been some drug-dealing and drug-related activities in that block.” 

Another site in the neighborhood, a sidewalk in front of a vacant property at the corner of Sacramento and Julia streets, was the site of a memorial and gathering following the death of a young drug dealer who was killed by a drive-by shooting at the corner of 60th Street and San Pablo Avenue in Oakland two days earlier. 

“Chief (Douglas M.) Hambleton and his staff are making every effort to manage the situation to ensure community safety,” Kamlarz wrote. 

Reached Thursday afternoon, Councilmember Max Anderson, who represents the area, said he had just come back from vacation and hadn’t brought himself up to speed o n the incidents. 

“I’ll be checking with Phil Kamlarz tomorrow morning,” he said. 

Laura Menard, a former City Council candidate who lives in the area, said neighbors have called and e-mailed her to let her know how pleased they are with the heightened po lice presence. 

She said her most unusual call came from woman who identified herself as an aide to Mayor Tom Bates, who offered the suggestion that neighborhood residents should approach the city’s Peace and Justice Commission and suggest they ought to p ut aside looking at international issues and take up the cause of a neglected neighborhood in South Berkeley. 

“I laughed at that one,” she said, “because Peace and Justice has no authority to demand increased police patrols.” 

Kent Brown, another area r esident, said he welcomed the stepped-up enforcement, “especially in light of all the shooting lately. I see their van right around the corner, and I welcome their presence.”