BERKELEY– An investigation of shootings in the city’s San Pablo Park neighborhood has led a Berkeley Police Special Response Team to arrest a man in Alameda, and to the recovery of a gun and narcotics in nearby Emeryville.
Anthony T. McCurty, 37, a janitor from Berkeley, was arrested on August 9 at 8:30 a.m., when Berkeley police officers served him with an arrest warrant, at residence located in the 3200 block of Briggs Avenue in Alameda.
McCurty is suspected of being responsible for a shooting that occurred on July 24 shortly before 4 p.m., near the intersection of Acton and Burnett streets, where two houses were damaged by bullets, and a woman cleaning her living room on the 1300 block of Burnett Street narrowly missed being hit by a bullet in her head.
Two groups of teenagers and young adults began gathering in San Pablo Park, shortly before an exchange of gunfire erupted about one block away, but apparently no one was hit. The rival groups scattered in all directions as police arrived. Numerous shootings believed related to gang rivalry have occurred in the area during the last two years.
McCurty was charged on August 11 by the Alameda District Attorney’s Office with shooting at an inhabited dwelling, assault with a semi-automatic firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person. He remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail in lieu of $635,000 bond.
Berkeley police said that following McCurty’s arrest, investigators learned additional information about other suspected criminal activity, which led officers to an apartment located on 5600 block of Bay Street in Emeryville, where a stolen .45 caliber pistol was recovered, along with narcotics for sale.
