After the crime scene tape and cop cars have left, students of UC Berkeley’s Greek community have left signs mourning the passing of a UC Berkeley fraternity member killed last night.

They are mourning the tragic death of 21-year-old Chris Wootton, a member of Sigma Pi who was fatally stabbed early this morning.

In a display of support, students have delivered flowers and chalked phrases such as “We Love You Chris” on the street near the parking lot Wootton was killed. (Click here to read more…)

Three Unit 1 male security monitors were robbed at gunpoint early Wednesday morning as they waited at a nearby bus stop.

Alex Cheng, 19, Jason Keller, 20, and Devin Koba, 19, were sitting at the bus stop between the Putnam and Freeborn halls, waiting for the Owl Line to come pick them up when the suspect approached them holding a handgun and took two cell phones and $182.

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Although police and school officials say they think gangs do not have a major presence at Berkeley High School, they admit the kids would know most about student membership in West Side Berkeley or H2O Front Berkeley—the two most prominent Berkeley gangs.

“Even in the junior high you’ll pick up notebooks and they’ll have H2O written all over it,” said Berkeley police Sgt. Patricia Delaluna, a gang expert. “The kids know better than anybody who’s all involved.”

However, even students are in discrepancy about the presence of gangs. Two juniors at Berkeley High, Rafi Susman and Michael Salaverry, said they don’t think gangs exist in their school.

“I don’t worry about that, not at Berkeley High,” Salaverry said.

His friend said even though there aren’t gangs at the school, there still is criminal activity.

“There’s gang-like activity but they’re not labeled as gangs,” Susman said. “I think here it’s more about ridiculous individuals than ridiculous gangs.”

However, other students are positive of the presence of gang-like groups, which sometimes engage in criminal behavior but do not label themselves as “gangs.”

“There’s gangs, but sometimes they’re called cliques,” said Cervon Rogers, a freshman at Berkeley High. “Then they say the ‘turf’ they’re from, they do signs, they target each other.”

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When the case seemed cold, homicide detectives in the Berkeley Police Department received an unexpected tip about the 2006 shooting death of Wayne Drummond, Jr. As a result, two men were arrested.

Police have charged Berkeley resident Brandon Crowder, 20, and Richmond resident Nicholas Beaudreaux, 22, with the murder of 23-year-old Drummond, who died on the steps of UC Berkeley sorority, said Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.

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