Berkeley police release video of fatal police shooting at Toyota dealership in September
By: The Berkeley Police Department released critical incident video Friday related to a police shooting that occurred during an active shooter situation in September. Graphic videos from officers’ body cameras and surveillance footage detail Berkeley PD officers responding to a report of an active shooter at a Toyota dealership on the Albany border just before 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 21.
Officers were dispatched to the Toyota of Berkeley Service Center at 1025 Eastshore Highway in Albany after a 9-1-1 call came in reporting an active shooter. According to the caller, a man entered the service center and shot a woman.
In the video, the initial 9-1-1 call reporting the active shooter can be heard. Surveillance video released by BPD appears to show the suspect, 24-year-old Lamar Walker, entering the second floor of the service center, retrieving a handgun and firing at the victim, identified as 24-year-old Alonna Gallon.
Walker and Gallon, according to police and family members, were the co-parents of a young boy. Gallon worked at the Toyota service center where the shooting occurred.
Officers arrived within moments of the 9-1-1 calls, BPD said. Body-worn camera footage from the critical incident video shows armed officers clearing the scene and preparing to enter the building.
Officers were directed to the second floor, the last known location of the shooter and the victim, police said. On the second floor, they made contact with the suspect. Officers gave repeated commands for Walker to put his “hands up,” according to Berkeley PD.
“Mr. Walker did not comply and instead pointed the firearm at the Berkeley Police Officers,” the video said.
Five officers discharged their weapons, striking the suspect.
Second-floor surveillance footage that appears to show the suspect pointing a handgun at officers while crouched behind a desk before officers discharged their weapons.
According to BPD, Walker had unsuccessfully tried to kill himself before being fatally wounded by the officers’ gunfire. Walker’s firearm, a silver revolver, was recovered at the scene.
On the floor near Walker, officers also found the victim, who was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound, police said. Emergency aid was provided to Gallon and Walker, but they succumbed to their injuries and were pronounced dead, police said.
An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, BPD said.
The critical incident video has been released “in the interest of transparency.”
“The investigations are still under way, but in the interest of transparency, we wanted to provide you with what information we can right now. It is possible that our understanding of this incident could change as these investigations unfold,” said Berkeley PD Public Information Officer, Jessica Perry. “What we know right now for certain is this was not a random crime. Miss Gallon’s death was a senseless act of violence that left a young boy without his mother, a child she was co-parenting with Mr. Walker.”