Bad News From Top Dog
So today just before 4:00 as I strolled home from Boalt, chewing my lip over that Con Law take-home, I bumped into Berkeley Fire Department on Durant Avenue. They looked pretty busy. Which is understandable, because they had CPR in progress on a gunshot victim in the parking lot next to Top Dog
That would be 4:00 in the PM. Not in the AM.
Three* simultaneous thoughts as I played gawker for a moment:
There is no way to say this, but if you are not that fortunate, I'm sorry for your loss. Be the victim a perpetrator, a target or a bystander, this is a horrible thing. We will learn the rest of the story piece by piece as it comes out. But the senseless ugliness part? That's apparent.
*I also wondered other things, like whether they would have to break someone off from chest compression duty to man an extinguisher if all those unattended hot dogs were to ignite on the grill, how pissed the AC Transit drivers are going to be when they close down the street, and, um . . . where exactly is that shooter right now, anyway? But those questions seem kind of inappropriate given their context. Well, maybe not the shooter question.
Little update: Daily Cal article here.
That would be 4:00 in the PM. Not in the AM.
Three* simultaneous thoughts as I played gawker for a moment:
- Berkeley Fire Department has its shit together. The scene looked like a page straight out of a training manual;
- That poor dude is a goner, though;
- My obligations to the Dormant Commerce Clause are a privilege, not a burden. Stress over them probably makes me a smaller person, not a bigger one.
There is no way to say this, but if you are not that fortunate, I'm sorry for your loss. Be the victim a perpetrator, a target or a bystander, this is a horrible thing. We will learn the rest of the story piece by piece as it comes out. But the senseless ugliness part? That's apparent.
----------------------------
*I also wondered other things, like whether they would have to break someone off from chest compression duty to man an extinguisher if all those unattended hot dogs were to ignite on the grill, how pissed the AC Transit drivers are going to be when they close down the street, and, um . . . where exactly is that shooter right now, anyway? But those questions seem kind of inappropriate given their context. Well, maybe not the shooter question.
Little update: Daily Cal article here.
posted by Patrick Bageant at 4:27 PM
20 Comments:
Good for the Berkeley Fire Department. The city should reallocate all of the police department's funding to them. Their good response here actually make a difference in someone's life, unlike Operation Babysit Code Pink.
More bad stories from Berkeley - Prom night victim's brother dies in wreck
well that would explain the constant helicopter noise that i noticed starting around 4pm. how horrible.
what is happening to our town? Last week, while walking to my apartment 2 blocks north of campus, an undergrad stopped me to use my phone because he had just been mugged. at 2pm in the afternoon, in broad daylight.
Im getting a bit nervous about living here.
Putting aside the fact that this happened at 4 PM in a one of the most visible places in Berkeley, it's also one block from the UCPD hq (where Boalties threw bottles but that's a different story). This is just sad.
I was on my beloved 51 bus today around 3:30-45... as we pulled up to the stop at Durant and College, I heard the gunshots behind us, looks like we had gotten out of the way just in time. Scary times here in what would otherwise be a great city...
what would otherwise be a great city? are you kidding? other than the weather, everything about this town is broke ass. potholes, homeless people, hippies, wannabe hippies, code pink, tree people etc. I mean seriously?
Thank you, 9:27. Though I will add that I like the trees (when they are not full of smelly hippies that drop excrement on passerby). And the coffee.
As for Berkeley, I've lived in cities that have worse streets, horrible traffic, more homeless people, and plenty of obnoxious wannabes (not just hippies, but all kinds!)
What can I say, I love the location, the fact there is a ton of great food, and that most of the businesses are locally owned (excepting Strada and all its permutations).
Get rid of an obnoxious, overbearing, holier-than-thou city council that doesn't represent the majority of the city and I think we've got it decently good.
If I'm not mistaken, Strada is owned by the Cafe Roma guy, who is from Berkeley.
My prayers go out to the families. I feel terrible for them. Nonetheless, it look like the victim, Maceo Smith might have Been a part of violent gang activity in the past, and his killing may not be random.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/22/BAGNIDRQ9A1.DTL
for those of you who don't like Berkeley's free spirit, eclectic residents, numerous coffee shops and sidewalk cafes, farmers' markets, abundant flora, independently owned stores, walkable neighborhoods, and varied architecture - get out! There's plenty of strip-mall lined suburbs and septic corporate cities elsewhere in the country for you.
What goes around comes around, I guess.
uh, 9:58, we will get out, but it's kinda hard to do before you graduate.
love how you painted such a rosey picture of the place, though...."eclectic" indeed.
Maybe those people who don't like Berkeley's "free spirit, eclectic residents, numerous coffee shops and sidewalk cafes, farmers' markets, abundant flora, independently owned stores, walkable neighborhoods, and varied architecture" should get out.
But I'll bet the number of people, if any, who fit that description makes for a short list.
What people don't like is Berkeley's thefts, muggings, assaults, etc. What people don't like is the feeling that it isn't safe to be here. Just ask any woman walking alone near campus after dark. Her concerns have nothing to do with the sidewalk cafes, farmers' markets, or coffee shops (well, sometimes it has to do with the coffee shops).
Point is, it's possible to love all the good things about Berkeley, and still feel extremely uncomfortable to be here. And the fact that there ARE good things about the city doesn't mean that people with legitimate concerns about the bad things need to leave.
"septic corporate cities"
did you mean sterile or antiseptic cities?
Don't worry, Birgeneau and the Berkeley mayor on it. Soon there will be a committee established to search for a new Vice Chancellor of Campus Security Studies and a parking place downtown will be reserved (complete with police protection) for anti-murder protesters.
when it rains, it pours:
Four men are in custody after they allegedly stole $6,000 in a takeover robbery of a Berkeley credit union and led Oakland police on a chase, authorities said today.
The robbers, who wore surgical-type masks, walked into the Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union at 2001 Ashby Ave. about noon Tuesday and ordered employees and customers to the ground, police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said.
Berkeley: Challenging the concept that a Failed State can't be a municipality.
I read that a 17-year-old got shot yesterday at Dwight and MLK. I think he survived, but my word, this is getting pretty bad, right?
Most of you (anonymous) are assholes! A person died... he will never see his children again and other family members that were born after he died! This is my brother we are talking about... I knew him... you guys are just listening to the media... who hasn't made bad decisions as kids... we grow we change. Maceo never was a gang member... he was someone who deserved to live... Maceo was shot down in cold blood... would you feel the same if it was your brother? I swear... people can be really f**cking stupid!
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