Stabbing leaves 1 dead, 2 injured in Berkeley hills

A person stabbed three people in a targeted attack in the Berkeley hills Saturday, killing a woman, according to the Berkeley Police Department.

Around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Berkeley police received calls reporting a person armed with a knife in the 1000 block of Overlook Road, just west of Tilden Park and about a mile and a half north of the UC Berkeley campus. Neighbors told the East Bay Times they heard a “blood-curdling scream” around the time of the attack.

When officers arrived, they discovered the assailant had stabbed two women and chased a man down the street, according to Officer Jessica Perry, a spokesperson for the department.

One of the women was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was taken to a local hospital to be treated for stab wounds, Perry said. The man was treated at the scene for injuries to his hands.

The attacker fled in a vehicle Perry said did not belong to the assailant and was chased by officers. The pursuit ended when the attacker crashed near the intersection of Ninth Street and Gilman Street, she said. The person has since been arrested and transported to a local jail, according to Perry.

Police have not elaborated on the relationship between the three victims, but the East Bay Times reported the incident was initially called in as “a family disturbance.” Police told the paper that the woman who died and the male stabbing victim were in the same house when the attack began.

Perry said officers believe the stabbing was “not random” but did not elaborate on a potential motive. Both the deceased and the suspect have yet to be identified publicly. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact Berkeley police at 510-981-5900.