Berkeley has had 41 confirmed incidents of gunfire in 2020, according to police and Berkeleyside reports. We’ve created the 2020 Berkeley gunfire map to track what’s happened.
Four people have been killed and at least 11 have been wounded in shootings in Berkeley in 2020. Last year, one person was killed and three people were wounded.
BPD has told Berkeleyside previously that police consider a gunfire call to have been confirmed if officers find evidence such as bullet casings, damage at the scene or a victim. Police ask anyone with information about any of these incidents to call BPD’s Homicide Detail at 510-981-5741.
In the 2020 Berkeley gunfire map above, fatal shootings are marked in red, shootings with victims are marked in orange, those without victims are marked in yellow, and the shooting where a Berkeley police officer fired her gun at a moving vehicle is marked in green. Scroll down for basic information about each incident.
Gun violence is up compared to 2019
In 2019, Berkeley PD counted 28 incidents of confirmed gunfire. Three left someone wounded but none were fatal. The University of California Police Department had one shooting, at People’s Park, which left a man dead.
Berkeley had no homicides in 2018. In 2017, a woman was fatally stabbed in Berkeley but there were no fatal shootings.
Prior to 2020, Berkeley PD’s last fatal shooting was in 2016, when 22-year-old Alex Goodwin Jr. was killed outside his home near San Pablo Park. Charges have not been filed in that case.
Four fatal shootings in 2020
In March, 29-year-old Diante Craig was shot to death by a stranger during an apparent road rage incident on Chestnut Street near University Avenue in North Berkeley. Criminal charges have been filed against a Richmond couple.
In June, UC Berkeley student Seth Smith, 19, was fatally shot while walking in southwest Berkeley. Smith had been walking on Dwight Way when someone approached him from behind and shot him at close range in the back of the head without warning or provocation, authorities have said. Murder charges have been filed against 60-year-old Berkeley resident Tony Walker.
A fatal shooting at a Berkeley Hills home Sept. 26 left 39-year-old Alfred Charles Taylor Jr. dead. Murder charges have been filed against 26-year-old Berkeley resident Jessie McAllister.
In October, 19-year-old Sereinat’e Henderson was killed in a drive-by shooting on Prince Street. She was two months pregnant. No arrests have been made.
At least 11 people wounded in 10 shootings
In April, a woman was shot near People’s Park in the Southside neighborhood. A Berkeley man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and other crimes.
In July, a 26-year-old Oakland man was wounded during a shooting in South Berkeley. No arrests have been reported.
On Aug. 1, a man in his 20s was shot in the head near Solano and Fresno avenues in North Berkeley. He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Police made arrests in the case but charges have not been filed.
On Aug. 18, a shooting at an apartment building on Dohr Street near Ashby Avenue in southwest Berkeley left a man in his 20s wounded. Officers also found damage from gunfire to nearby buildings and two parked vehicles. No arrests have been reported.
A shooting in West Berkeley at 10th Street and Bancroft Way on Aug. 27 left a man wounded but expected to survive. No arrests have been reported.
A young man in his late teens was wounded Sept. 9 during a shooting just before 3 p.m. at San Pablo Avenue and Murray Street (south of Ashby Avenue) in West Berkeley. Charges have not been filed.
Two men, ages 28 and 32, were wounded during a shooting Sept. 22 in the 2300 block of Eighth Street (near Channing Way) in West Berkeley. No arrests have been reported.
There were two shootings in West Berkeley on Oct. 2: The first, at 4 p.m. near the Seabreeze homeless encampment, left a middle-aged man with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, the CHP said. The second, just after 8 p.m. in the 2300 block of Eighth Street, left a juvenile male teenager wounded, said BPD. Investigations are underway. No arrests have been reported.
On Oct. 29, a man walked into Alta Bates with a gunshot wound. He didn’t say much to police but the shooting may have happened on Blake Street.
26 other gunfire incidents
There have also been at least 26 confirmed gunfire calls with no reported victims: in February at the Berkeley Marina in West Berkeley; in mid-March on Berkeley Way near Franklin Street in central Berkeley; in late March at Dwight Way and Seventh Street in West Berkeley; in April in the 1600 block of Russell Street in South Berkeley; in June in southwest Berkeley and Southside Berkeley; in July on Durant Avenue downtown; and on Aug. 12 at King and 62nd streets in South Berkeley. On Aug. 13, an investigation into gunfire in the Southside neighborhood later led to the discovery of a weapons cache at a Berkeley home.
On Sept. 17, a witness told police about seeing a car chase that day at 6:55 p.m. where someone in one vehicle shot at a vehicle at Ashby and San Pablo avenues. The gunfire damaged the rear window of the second vehicle, police said. Both drivers sped away southbound on San Pablo into Oakland, police said.
On Oct. 10, gunfire damaged a vehicle that was abandoned on Seventh Street near Channing Way after a collision. Several hours later, after another round of gunfire — this time at Eighth Street and Channing — police arrested two young men from Berkeley after a brief pursuit onto the freeway.
On Oct. 16, police arrested three young men after reports of gunfire, with one driver chasing another, in central Berkeley.
On Oct. 26, someone fired a gun at Ashby Avenue and Dohr Street in South Berkeley just before 1 p.m. Multiple vehicles were struck but police found no victims in the area.
On Oct. 29, a mother on Idaho Street in southwest Berkeley was reading to her 11-year-old daughter in bed when gunfire penetrated the wall of their apartment and struck the ceiling above their heads. No one was hurt and no arrests have been made.
On Oct. 30, a city of Berkeley building was damaged by gunfire, but no one appears to have been hurt. The building is a polling location but officials said they do not believe the gunfire had anything to do with election activities.
On Nov. 2, a city of Berkeley building at 1011 University Ave. was damaged by gunfire but no one was hurt. On Nov. 3, police investigated gunfire at Sacramento and Russell streets. Several vehicles were struck during the incident.
On Dec. 3, someone shot at a person in a vehicle parked outside a house in the 1100 block of Channing Way. Less than two weeks later, on Dec. 13, someone fired at that same house, damaging the building. No one was hurt in either incident.
Also on Dec. 13, someone on the west side of Sacramento Street, near Harmon Street, fired across the street at a northbound vehicle with two occupants. The shooter ran away. Bullets struck the moving vehicle, two parked cars in the area and also a building.
Berkeley police shooting
On July 30, a Berkeley police officer fired her gun at a moving vehicle after a robbery at CVS in North Berkeley. No injuries were reported. That case remains under investigation. As of October, police have released bodycam footage and say more records are forthcoming.
Stay tuned for updates. Read more about gunfire in Berkeley.
Berkeleyside will update this map each time confirmed gunfire is reported. Hear gunfire in Berkeley? We want to know about it. (We will keep you anonymous.)
