Features

Police Probe Two Sunday Shootings By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday February 07, 2006

Berkeley officers are investigating two different shooting reports that occurred during the predawn hours Sunday. 

In the more dramatic of the two incidents, about 30 shots were fired at a house in the 1300 block of Ward Street around 3 a.m., said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

One Berkeley officer who was parked about three blocks away reported hearing about 30 gunshots. 

“And then the phones started ringing,” said Galvan. “A woman who was sleeping on a couch in the front room said she awoke to the sound of breaking glass.” 

The woman sustained minor injuries to her left shoulder and hand which may have come either from bits of drywall blasted loose by the gunfire or from fragments of .223-caliber bullets which were fired into the house. 

Officers later found shell casings from both 9-millimeter and .223-caliber bullets outside the house. The latter rounds, which are used in assault rifles like the AR15, are designed to fragment on impact, Galvan said. 

Most of the rounds were stopped by stucco and other wall materials, and investigators later counted nine bullet holes by the front door itself. 

Galvan said investigators believe the attack may have been designed to get the attention of the woman’s son, “who is known to us.” 

Shortly after the incident and because of inconsistencies in the woman’s story, officers obtained and served a search warrant on the house in search of her son, who is wanted by police in connection with other charges not related to the shooting. 

The young man was not present and remains at large, Galvan said. 

No one in the neighborhood was able to offer a description of the shooters or any vehicle associated with them, he said. 

Just 90 minutes earlier, officers were called to Roundtree’s Restaurant at 2618 San Pablo Ave. after receiving reports that anywhere from six to 30 gunshots had been reported in the area. 

When officers arrived, a large party was just leaving the restaurant, but none of the partygoers reported seeing or hearing anything. 

One caller reported hearing a motorcycle leaving the scene at high speed immediately after the shooting, and officers were given a description of a possible shooter, an 18-year-old African-American man with short cropped hair and gold-capped front teeth who stands about 5’7”, weighs about 160 pounds and who waas wearing a black Raiders cap and a black hooded sweatshirt.  

Investigating officers found shell casings at the scene.u