Crime & Safety
Makeshift Memorial for Victim of South Berkeley's Thursday Shooting
Friends gathered Friday on Oregon Street, outside Bob's Liquors, to pay homage to Devin Whitmire.
About a half-dozen people were gathered at on Sacramento Street Friday to mourn the murder of Devin Whitmire, who was gunned down in front of the store the night before.
Whitmire, the 24-year-old Berkeley resident who friends called “Dev,” was leaving the store on Thursday night when he was “confronted by a small group” of men. ” according to Berkeley Police.
The police put out a statement saying the shooting appeared to be targeted. But a man claiming to be the victim’s brother, Darnell Robinson, believed the shooting was random.
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“My brother didn’t know those guys,” said Robinson. “I have no idea why they came up and started shooting.”
The makeshift memorial was just around from Bob’s Liquors, a neighborhood hub with a steady flow of regulars coming in and out.
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The memorial consisted of candles in the shape of a heart, and more candles that spelled out Dev’s name. Standing in front of the memorial, the friends laughed and told stories about Whitmire.
Whitmire's brother laughed remembering the time when Whitmire was changing the oil on his car and the oil filter caught fire.
“Can you give me some water?” Whitmire asked his brother, who was running down the street to get away from the fire.
“Hey,” Whitmire yelled after him. “Aren’t you going to help me?”
The brother, still running, turned his head and yelled, “It’s gonna blow, it’s gonna blow!”
“That was right up the street there,” said Robinson wistfully.
Two pictures of Whitmire were fastened to a chain link fence above the candles. In one Whitmire is flipping off the camera. In the other he’s seen having a good time with a group of friends.
Looking at the pictures, Robinson shook his head in disbelief.
“I have a lot of memories.” He struggled to contain his emotion. “But I just don’t want to tell them right now.”
As the memorial continued, several police cruisers circled by. Robinson and his friends kept a watchful eye.
“They’re slowing down, they’re slowing down,” one friend would say periodically.
The group thought the police might stop the memorial.
“They’ll make us blow out the candles and take this all down,” said a young woman there. "And we don't want to do that."
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