(BCN) –Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced Tuesday that her office has filed murder charges against a man suspected of killing two people in separate shootings in the same San Leandro parking lot.
Joshua Ballard, 23, is facing multiple charges related to the homicides, including carjacking and second-degree robbery, according to Price. The charges stem from two homicides, one on Sept. 13 and another on Sept. 24, in which Ballard allegedly shot two people in the head during carjackings at the same 24-Hour Fitness parking lot in San Leandro, Price said in a news release Tuesday.
Ballard is also facing three counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, gross negligence and carrying a loaded gun in a separate case in which he allegedly shot into an In N Out Burger restaurant in Oakland, hitting a bystander in the ankle.
A ghost gun was allegedly found at the scene of the restaurant shooting and another was allegedly found in Ballard’s possession when he was arrested last Tuesday, according to Price.
Ballard is also facing several gun enhancement charges and is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, according to jail records. He is scheduled to enter a plea at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin on Nov. 9 at 9 a.m.
“My office is committed to reducing the easy access to guns, particularly ghost guns, and working with young people to prevent the kind of reckless disregard for life that we see in this case,” Price said. “This case of deadly violence traumatizes our whole community and will not be tolerated.”
If convicted of all charges, Ballard could face up to 88 years to life in prison, according to Price’s office.
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