BPD arrests 1, seizes arsenal in Oct. 26 gunfire incident near UC Berkeley

Berkeley police arrested a 45-year-old San Francisco man and seized a small arsenal Thursday in connection with a shooting incident in the early morning of Oct. 26.

Callers began reporting gunshots in downtown Berkeley and the Southside neighborhood near the southwest corner of UC Berkeley’s main campus around 12:15 a.m. that morning, and the university’s ShotSpotter gunfire detection system registered shots in several locations near there, police said previously. There were no injuries reported in connection to the incident.

City police officers identified a suspect after speaking with witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage from the area, police said.

The city’s recently installed automated license plate reader (ALPR) system helped police track the man as he left the area, Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Byron White said in an email.

On Thursday morning, the department’s Special Response Team served a warrant at a San Francisco home, arresting the man and seizing “several handguns, assault rifles and ammunition,” according to a Nixle alert from the department Thursday afternoon. White said there were 12 guns and over 15,000 rounds of ammunition seized altogether.

Police said they arrested the man on suspicion of assault with a firearm, willfully discharging a firearm at an occupied building or vehicle, discharging a firearm at an unoccupied building or vehicle and negligently discharging a firearm, among other crimes. He was still undergoing processing Thursday afternoon, White said.

City firefighters, university police, San Francisco police and firefighters and the East Bay Regional Parks District police worked on the incident and investigation as well, police said.