Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/814176
ByScottSmith TheAssociatedPress FRESNO Acoustic sensors mounted on lampposts and telephone poles picked up the crack of gunfire and rapidly enabled police to zero in on where it was coming from. Within min- utes, the alleged gunman in the deadly rampage was un- der arrest. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer credited the technol- ogy Wednesday with the swift capture of Kori Ali Muhammad, a 39-year- old black man who au- thorities say killed three people Tuesday in a bid to wipe out as many whites as possible. "He was in custody within 4 minutes and 13 seconds," Dyer said Wednesday at a news con- ference where he played au- dio clips of the ShotSpotter technology. "Kori Muham- mad would be outstanding today if it wasn't for shots- fired detection." First developed two de- cades ago, ShotSpotter technology has been used widely since 2011 in U.S. cities. The Fresno rampage is one of the more serious crimes in which it played a vital role. Police say Muhammad randomly targeted white men he encountered in a tree-lined Fresno neigh- borhood, firing 17 rounds within a few minutes be- fore running out of ammu- nition, police said. He is charged with the three slayings plus a fourth from a week before, when officials say he shot a Motel 6 security guard for show- ing him disrespect. ShotSpotter, of Newark, said its technology is used by about 90 U.S. cities, in- cluding New York; San Francisco; Oakland, Cali- fornia; and Chicago, as well as Cape Town, South Africa. Police in Fresno have had it for the past two years. ShotSpotter requires the installation of nu- merous sensitive micro- phones. Computers and technicians at a California- based center distinguish the sound of gunfire from other noises and triangu- late the shots, in much the same way that cell towers are used to zero in on the location of a cellphone. The system can tell po- lice the location and time the shots were fired, how many there were, and some- times the type of weapon, the number of shooters and whether they changed loca- tion as they fired. The information can be sent to officers on the street via their smartphones and their squad-car computer screens, as was the case in Fresno. Fresno police said of- ficers were alerted to the gunfire by ShotSpotter even before they received any word from the dispatch- ers who take 911 calls, and the system pinpointed the shooter's location to within a matter of feet. Muhammad had tossed aside his empty gun mo- ments before the offi- cer pulled up, accord- ing to police. The suspect then threw himself on the ground and surrendered. Fresno Officer Nicho- las El-Helou said it is rare for police relying on tradi- tional dispatch calls to ar- rive while a gunman is still on the scene. The speedy arrest in this case may have averted an- other tragedy, he said. "He could carjack some- body. What's to say he doesn't force his way into a home and take hostages?" El-Helou said. "We don't know what could have hap- pened. He was a desperate man." A one-year contract with ShotSpotter costs $55,000 to $95,000 for each square mile. Because of the cost, cities often limit the tech- nology to high-crime areas. Privacy advocates criti- cize it for also sometimes recording speech, though the manufacturer says it is designed to ignore such noise. Still, prosecutors used a recording of the last words of Tyrone Lyles to help convict the gunman who killed him in Oakland in 2007. Lyles called out Arli- ton Johnson's nickname as he lay dying. ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark said the technol- ogy has helped take gun- men off the streets, often in rough neighborhoods where gunfire goes unre- ported. FRESNO SHOOTING Gu n fi re s en so rs c re di te d wi th s wi a rr es t in d ea dl y ra mp ag e By Jocelyn Gecker The Associated Press BERKELEY University of California, Berkeley officials said Thursday they have a "grave concern" of violence on campus if Ann Coul- ter follows through on her threat to speak next week at the university. Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks instead proposed an alternate May 2 date for the conservative author. Dirks said police have "very specific intelligence regarding threats that could pose a grave danger to the speaker," her audience and protesters and urged Coul- ter to come speak at the later date instead. Campus Republicans in- vited Coulter to speak at Berkeley April 27 on the subject of illegal immigra- tion. OnWednesday,UCBerke- ley officials announced they were was calling off the event because of security concerns, prompting Coul- ter to say she plans to come anyway. Dirks said Thursday that Coulter's reaction led him to launch an expanded search for an "appropriate, protectable venue." Young America's Founda- tion, a conservative group that books Coulter's cam- pus speeches, did not imme- diately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Berkeley has been the site of clashes between far- right and far-left protesters, most recently at a rally last weekend called in support of President Donald Trump in downtown Berkeley. In February, masked ag- itators shut down a speak- ing event by Milo Yian- nopoulos, a former editor of the conservative Breit- bart News site. University spokesman Dan Mogulof said campus police learned that some of the groups that appeared to be responsible for the violence last weekend and at the Yiannopoulos event "planned to target the ap- pearance of Ann Coulter on campus." In a letter to Berkeley College Republicans this week, university officials said they could not ensure the safety of Coulter, audi- ence members or protesters expected at the event. "We have been unable to find a safe and suitable venue," said the letter from Vice Chancellor Scott Biddy and Vice Chancellor for Stu- dent Affairs Stephen Sutton. "Given current active secu- rity threats, it is not possi- ble to assure that the event could be held successfully." Coulter responded with a string of messages on Twitter, saying "I WILL BE SPEAKING NEXT THURS- DAY." She did not immediately respond on social media af- ter the university proposed the new May 2 date Thurs- day. SPEECH UC Berkeley flip-flops on Ann Coulter, proposes May date CLIFFOWEN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Ann Coulter waves a er speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington in 2011. FURNITUREDEPOT 235 So. 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