Berkeley police closed off an area around Jefferson Avenue and Addison Street for several hours Wednesday evening after reports that an armed man might be barricaded in a home near the intersection, but those reports turned out to be unfounded.
KTVU, the Oakland Tribune, Berkeleyside and other media reported an apparent police standoff, but according to an update on Berkeleyside shortly before midnight, police determined that reports of a barricaded suspect were unsubstantiated.
It's the second time in less than a week that Berkeley residents have been affected by a "barricade" situation where no suspect was found. On Feb. 15, Oakland police closed off an area in North Oakland to search for a suspect in an earlier shooting who was believed to be holed up in an apartment on Shattuck Avenue. A SWAT team eventually searched the apartment and found it empty. That search backup up traffic into nearby sections of Berkeley.
