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Suspect with Gun Reported at Ashby BART in Berkeley--BART Police Unable to Confirm

By Saul Sugarman (BCN) and Berkeley Daily Planet
Saturday October 16, 2010 - 06:35:00 PM

BART police responded to reports of a male suspect with a gun in a Bay Area Rapid Transit station at Ashby Avenue in Berkeley this afternoon sometime after 4 p.m..  

Beverly, a Berkeley resident, told Bay City News that about eight officers with large rifles were seen walking through the Flea Market at the intersection in front of the station. 

"Children are upset, people are scared," Beverly said. "They wouldn't even say what they were doing. Somebody could get killed out here." 

An officer at Berkeley police said their department typically responds with rifles when they receive reports of suspects with guns, but a BPD spokesperson told the Planet that this was a BART case.  

BART spokespersons told the Planet that “there was no merit to the call”, meaning that no suspect with a gun was located, but confirmed that officers with guns had been deployed to investigate the report. .