A police officer heads back to his police cruiser as officers from different law enforcement agencies investigate a shooting near a commercial area in Albany, Calif., on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Berkeley police released video footage Friday of a shooting in September where officers fatally shot a man accused of gunning down the mother of his 7-year-old child before turning his pistol on responding officers.
The video — which was edited and included captions, radio snippets and selected body-worn camera footage — comes six weeks after Berkeley police fatally shot Lamar Walker, 24, on Sept. 21 at the Toyota of Berkeley Service Center near Berkeley’s border with Albany.
Authorities suspect Walker, of Vacaville, killed Alonna Gallon, 24, of Richmond, before turning the gun on himself and attempting suicide.
The video shows security camera footage of Walker approaching a desk in the service center were Gallon — whose face was blurred out — had been sitting in front of a computer and working. The clip ends a few seconds after he arrives at the desk, just as Walker began pulling a gun from his waistband.
Subsequent footage shows Walker, dressed in a beige or pink hoodie, laying on the floor at the base of the desk where Gallon had been sitting as officers begin storming the service center. He appeared to try to get up several times from the ground — all while pointing a revolver at the officers — and was fatally shot by officers moments later.
The incident was initially reported at 11:15 a.m. that day as an active shooter event, prompting a torrent of officers to descend on the car service center. Berkeley officers first evacuated the area, then entered the building in search of the suspected shooter and any victims inside.
Five officers fired their weapons at Walker to “prevent further injuries or loss of life,” the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office previously said. Walker was hit by multiple rounds and died in the service center.
Jessica Perry, a Berkeley police spokesperson, said during the video that investigations into the shooting are ongoing. Among those ongoing investigations is an inquiry by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office into officers’ actions that day, which is standard after police shootings.
“What we know right now for certain is that this was not a random crime,” Perry said. “Ms. 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.”
Gallon worked in the service center’s call center and also held jobs at a car rental company and a grocery store, according to her mother, Yuvonda Gallon. She and Walker were the parents of a 7-year-old son, King Walker.
“She was quiet, but she did nothing but smile,” Yuvonda Gallon said of her daughter. “She had a million-dollar smile, as her boss at the service center would say. Mostly, she just loved her son. She was a single mother, and was willing to do whatever she had to do.”
Yuvonda Gallon later established a GoFundMe page for the child. As of Friday, the fundraiser had brought in more than $54,000.
Originally published at Jakob Rodgers