Andrew Frankel

Berkeley Police Investigate Two Shootings in Less Than 24 Hours

Berkeley police on Wednesday began investigating two shootings in less than 24 hours, with a man and a woman suffering from gunshot wounds in the most recent act of violence.

Sgt. Andrew Frankel told NBC Bay Area that it appears the man and woman shot about 1 a.m. on Wednesday were the victims of a targeted attack, and the recent spate of violence is "uncharacteristic" for the city.

In the most recent shooting, residents heard gunshots, and shortly afterward, a man was discovered looking for help on someone's porch. About 1:20 a.m., a woman was dropped off at Alta Bates Medical Center with gunshot wounds. Police said both the man and woman appear to be victims in the same shooting, though they did not elaborate on why investigators thought the two were the intended targets.

Both were taken to Highland Hospital with serious injuries, they said.

A white Ford Fusion they were in, which had Lyft and Uber stickers on it, seemed to be the focus of the police investigation on Wednesday. The car was left sitting near Tremont and  Prince streets, not far from the Ashby BART station, its doors wide open and yellow police tape surrounding it.

A Lyft spokeswoman said by email that "while we have not received any reports from individuals or authorities regarding this incident, we are actively reaching out to the driver to provide assistance and stand ready to support in any way we can."

An Uber spokeswoman said the situation was "sad" but didn't know more. On Thursday, Berkeley police said the car was not in active Uber service.

Still, Frankel noted have been nine shootings so far in 2016, Frankel said, compared to 13 in all of 2015.

On Tuesday morning, a person was shot  at 11:33 a.m. near the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Delaware Street, Frankel said.

No arrests have been made in either of the shootings.

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