Berkeley: Woman stabbed to death, others hurt in hillside home attack; suspect arrested

BERKELEY — Residents of a usually quiet Berkeley hills neighborhood heard a “blood-curdling scream” and calls for help during a stabbing attack Saturday afternoon that left one woman dead, two others injured and a fourth person in custody after he reportedly fled the scene in a car and led police on a short pursuit.

Police said the attack, which began at one house in the 1000 block of Overlook Road and continued to another, was not “random.” The initial 911 call at about 12:33 p.m. was described as a family disturbance, but Officer Jessica Perry said investigators are still trying to piece together what happened and could not comment yet on the relationship between the victims and the suspect.

When officers arrived at the home in the 1000 block of Overlook Road, they found a female stabbing victim who was pronounced dead.

“Ma’am, can you hear me?” a Berkeley police officer could be heard asking over the radio.

During their response, police also learned that the suspect had chased a man, who had been at the house, to another  home in the surrounding area, where the suspect also attacked this man as well as a woman whom Perry described as a bystander.  The suspect then fled the area in a vehicle that did not belong to him, sparking a vehicle pursuit that ended at 9th and Gilman streets in Berkeley.

Perry said the male stabbing victim suffered stab wounds to his hands and was treated at the scene, while the second female victim was transported to a local hospital, also with stab wounds. Perry said she was in stable condition.

While police said the identification of the deceased was pending, neighbors already were mourning her loss and spoke about hearing cries for help, either from her or from others who had been with her at her house.

Mardi Sicular, speaking to reporters near the victim’s home, said she was “a beautiful person, beloved, kind, generous … an angel of a neighbor.” She said, “We’re all devastated.”

Sicular said she arrived home about 15 minutes after the attack, and her son told her he heard “the scream and people chasing and yelling for help.” She said he heard people yelling, “Help, help, call 911.” Sicular wasn’t sure if the scream her son initially heard came from their neighbor but it was “a blood-curdling scream.”

A 90-year-old woman who lives across the street said she looked outside her house and saw one man chasing another down Overlook Road. The woman, who only gave her last name, Elizabeth, also remembered her deceased neighbor as a “wonderful, very kind person” who made sure to check in on Elizabeth after her husband died.