Gunshots near Sacramento St. wake Berkeley residents
"Nothing like waking up at 4:30am to gunfire," a reader reported. "Not going to be able to fall asleep easy after hearing that."
A Berkeley man who went outside to investigate suspicious noises early Thursday morning was shot at by two people but managed to avoid injury, authorities report.
It was Berkeley's ninth gunfire call of the year.
Berkeley Police Officer Jessica Perry, department spokeswoman, said the man heard noise outside and thought someone was breaking into his car just before 4:50 a.m. near Sacramento and Ward streets.
When he got outside, he saw two people and then heard gunfire. He did not see either person holding a weapon, Perry said.
Numerous residents called police to report the sound of early-morning gunfire, the Berkeley Police Department said.
Community reports ran the gamut, with some people hearing just a few shots and others hearing more than 10, Perry said.
One local resident told The Berkeley Scanner he heard 10 gunshots from Channing Way, but also said sound often travels far in the neighborhood.
"Nothing like waking up at 4:30am to gunfire," another reader said. "Not going to be able to fall asleep easy after hearing that."
After the calls came in, officers canvassed the area and found the man at Sacramento and Ward who had been fired upon. But they did not locate any physical evidence of a shooting in the area, Perry said.
Gunfire is down this year in Berkeley compared to 2022 — as is much of the associated violence.
There had been 22 shootings as of mid-May last year, compared to this year's nine.
Emilie Raguso
One person was wounded in a shooting so far this year. None has been fatal.
Last year by this time, two people had been killed in shootings in Berkeley and five had been wounded.
Note: This story was updated July 7 with an additional gunfire report for the year after BPD updated its records at that time.
