Man with gun reported in Berkeley, but search proves fruitless

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Roads to the Berkeley Marina were reopened Tuesday night after police ended a search for a man reportedly seen walking with a rifle in the nearby McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. A multi-agency search did not find the man.

Berkeley Police, Oakland Police, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, Coast Guard investigators, the California Highway Patrol and officers from the East Bay Regional Park District searched the area on foot and with helicopters.

Sgt. Andrew Frankel, spokesman for the Berkeley Police Department, said police received calls at 12:19 p.m. of a man with a rifle walking on the Interstate 80 pedestrian overpass in the area. He said the man apparently walked into the Eastshore State Park.

Police converged on the area and shut down University Avenue headed into the marina and West Frontage Road from University to Gilman Street. Berkeley police announced shortly before 7 p.m. that all roads had reopened.

Children between 5 to 13 years old participating in Berkeley Day Camp were in the area and taken to a secure place, said city spokesman Matthai Chakko.

“The safety of our residents, including children, is always our top concern,” Chakko said in a statement. “After Berkeley Police received reports that a man in the area had a gun, police secured the area and camp staff calmly and quickly moved all campers into the Shorebird Nature Center at around 1:30 p.m. Buses took campers out at 3 p.m.”

About 20 officers searched the park from 3 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. before reopening the area, said East Bay Regional Park Lt. Alan Love.

At least two witnesses reported seeing the man entering the park from the intersection of Frontage Road and University Avenue, but officers did not find him, Love said.

Anyone with more information on the incident was encouraged to call 911 or East Bay Regional Park Police at (510) 881-1833.

Bill Hutchinson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bhutchinson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @bill_hutchinson