Campus shooting as protests target Berkeley

Police shot a suspected gunman Tuesday on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, officials said, as hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters marched on the elite college.

There was no immediate indication that the shooting was related to the protests, which came after riot police cleared a camp at the elite college in the San Francisco Bay area last week.

While the suspect was questioned in hospital, protest organizers immediately sought to distance themselves from the incident at the California institution's Haas School of Business.

"The shooting on campus is completely unrelated to today's protest," the Occupy Cal organizers tweeted, while Eric, a university lecturer who asked to be identified by first name only, was shocked to learn of the incident.

"That's horrible," he told AFP. "It makes me feel more dedicated to the movement. We have to show that we're about peace."

The incident, in which the suspect was shot after refusing to drop his weapon, was the latest shooting in or near anti-Wall Street protests, after two people died from gunshot wounds in Oakland and Vermont last week.

The alleged gunman was confronted in a third-floor computer lab, where a number of students were busy when he entered.

"The suspect was seen carrying a gun and entered an elevator. A staff member reported this to the police, who responded immediately. The suspect then left the elevator and entered a computer room," said a college statement.

"The police followed him and asked him to put up his hands. The suspect then pulled out the gun, and police shot him. The area is now contained, and the Haas School has been evacuated until further notice," it said.

At a press conference, UC Berkeley police chief Mitchell Celaya said the suspect displayed the gun "in a threatening manner," adding that students in the room "literally hit the floor."

He noted that the shooting was the first such incident on the California campus since the 1980s, but added there was no indication it was linked to the protests.

"We don't know if there's any correlation between the two events, there's nothing to suggest that," he told reporters.

The shooting happened as at least 1,000 protesters descended on Berkeley as part of the two-month-old anti-Wall Street movement, which started in New York and has spread across the country.

Authorities have cracked down on a number of high-profile protest camps in the last few days -- including in nearby Oakland on Monday, and in New York earlier Tuesday -- following a series of deaths in or near camps last week.

Two people died in separate incidents involving firearms in Oakland and Vermont, while two other deaths were reported at protest encampments in New Orleans and Salt Lake City.

Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau meanwhile voiced hope that the shooting would not mar the latest protests, which come after riot police used batons to clear a protest camp on university grounds last week.

Protestors, including from the nearly Occupy Oakland movement, say they will try to reinstate a camp at Berkeley on the back of Tuesday's protest march.

Birgeneau stood firm. "In the long run we will not allow an encampment," he said, adding: "I have confidence in our students, that they will stay focused on what the important issues are."

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