❒ None hurt; police arrest 4 in drive-by

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Robert Semple Elementary School was placed on lockdown about 2:30 p.m. Thursday while authorities searched the area for gunmen who apparently were stalking a Benicia man and his girlfriend.

Vincent Winnie, a 22-year-old Vallejo man, and three others were arrested by Benicia police at the Interstate 780-Interstate 80 interchange, Lt. Mike Daley said. They were still being processed by police at press time.

The incident started before 1 p.m. when police received multiple calls of a possible drive-by shooting at the first block of La Prenda Avenue, Daley said.

A 20-year-old Benicia man and his girlfriend were in front of the man’s home when an acquaintance and several others in a vehicle stopped in front of the home; someone inside the car fired at the couple but missed, Daley said.

Shortly after the shootings, police learned the suspect might return to the area. Since the victim’s home is a few blocks from the elementary school, police asked for the lockdown.

A second shooting attempt may have occurred at the intersection of Viewmont Street and East Fifth Street after the couple had left the La Prenda Avenue house in a vehicle, Daley said. They were confronted at the intersection by the same suspect, and as the couple fled, more shots were fired at their car, he said.

Police identified the suspect and obtained a description of his vehicle. At 3:20 p.m., Benicia police Officer Kevin Barreto spotted a similar vehicle with an occupant fitting the suspect’s description on Southampton Road. The vehicle was stopped at the interstate interchange, where the arrests took place.

“The investigation is ongoing,” Daley said. “The role of the three others taken into custody is being determined, and exact booking charges are also being determined.”

The school’s doors were locked to prevent pupils from leaving and to stop others from entering. One parent said some of the children had been ordered to shelter under their desks. The children were eventually released to their parents under police supervision.

The school has 450 pupils who attend kindergarten through fifth-grade classes at the school on 2015 East Third St. They were not in danger, officials stressed.

“Nothing happened on campus,” a school spokeswoman said. “There is nothing directly attached to Semple.”

Andrea Ruedas, the mother of a Robert Semple fifth grader, Skylar, worried when she heard about the lockdown and called the school’s office. “I was told they will hold the kids until the cops give the all clear,” she said. “I asked if I could come to school and pick up my daughter. They said no.”

Ruedas said she and her daughter had never experienced a lockdown. “I’ve heard of it at other cities, but not Benicia.” Skylar cried at first, Ruedas said. “Now that she’s home, she’s OK.”

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