![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_6630-2560x1920.jpeg\")
People outside the Starry Plough on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2025, before a jam to memorialize Anthony Anderson, a 40-year-old trumpet player who was shot and killed on Feb. 9 outside his San Leandro home by deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Credit: Tony Hicks<\/p>\n
They began gathering outside the Starry Plough in Berkeley Thursday about an hour before the 9 p.m. jam to memorialize Anthony Anderson, the 40-year-old trumpet player who was shot and killed Monday morning<\/a> outside his San Leandro home by deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n People cried, hugged, and told stories punctuated with laughter. Some held flowers, others carried instrument cases over their shoulders. One younger man broke out a violin and played on the corner.<\/p>\n Love for Anderson, who attended Berkeley High and for years hosted weekly jams at the Irish bar in South Berkeley, brought them there.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just brought people together,\u2019 said bassist Victor Little, who played with Anderson in various projects. \u201cIt\u2019s the scene \u2014 everybody kind of knows everybody. Everybody is intertwined. He was just a giving guy. A good spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s office released a statement Thursday which said Anderson called emergency dispatch at 3:19 a.m. on Feb. 9 and said he wanted to go on a \u201ckilling rampage\u201d and asked to speak with someone in law enforcement. The department said Anderson told a dispatcher he had a firearm, then gave them his location.<\/p>\n Deputies arrived at Anderson\u2019s home in the 16000 block of Selborne Drive in San Leandro. They said Anderson exited the home and \u201cpresented an immediate threat to deputies.\u201d The statement continued: \u201cTwo deputies discharged their department-issued firearms, striking Mr. Anderson. Deputies immediately rendered life saving measures; however, Mr. Anderson succumbed to his injuries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The statement said Anderson pointed an object at deputies \u201cdesigned to resemble a firearm.\u201d<\/p>\n Because the killing involved law enforcement shooting an unarmed man, state law requires the California Department of Justice to investigate the killing. State Attorney General Rob Bonta confirmed in a statement Feb. 9 his office is investigating.<\/p>\n There was very little talk Thursday night at the Plough about what caused Anderson\u2019s death. His friends preferred to talk about \u201cAnt\u201d \u2014 his boundless enthusiasm, his tendency to show up late at night wanting to play, his love of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and the word \u201cglory,\u201d and his big heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n Organizers made it clear the event wasn\u2019t a protest \u2014 it was a celebration of Anderson\u2019s life with the people with whom he made great music, and even better memories.<\/p>\n Singer Lee Hoffman met Anderson in 2011 and they played in jams together at various venues.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would just be random people, just improv the whole time,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cPeople would be coming in and out, just like 50 people throughout the night. He was really talented; he literally just organized constantly. I showed up at his house before midnight and he was like, \u2018Let\u2019s go grab a drum kit and play music.\u2019 He was somebody who just put his whole heart into the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew Major teaches violin in Oakland schools and met Anderson last year. He said musicians at local jam nights don\u2019t always welcome violinists, but Anderson was all-in.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was amazing. He was a great leader. He was a great player,\u201d he said Major, who had played outside the Plough a few minutes earlier. \u201cAnthony was more than cool with (the violin). Anthony was extremely welcoming. He was the one who invited me to play and keep playing, and no one\u2019s ever really done that.\u201d<\/p>\n Bassist Dan Yockey started playing with Anderson at various venues 15 years ago.<\/p>\n He said he can\u2019t count how many bands resulted from Anderson putting musicians together.<\/p>\n \u201cHe could connect people like no one I ever met. And he never got tired of doing it,\u201d Yockey said. \u201cHe had energy \u2014 I don\u2019t know where it came from. He made this music scene by himself.\u201d<\/p>\n Trumpet player Mario Silva said he and Anderson both taught privately out of the same Pleasanton music store.<\/p>\n \u201cWe played in a lot of the same bands \u2014 he\u2019d sub for me, I\u2019d sub for him,\u201d Silva said, smiling at Yockey. \u201cWe both played for his band back in the day. He was so good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n Patricia Guzman knew Anderson through her musician boyfriend. She said she never saw him play. She instead remembered his ability to connect in other ways.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would always come over to our house, every time with the Blue Ribbon beer, warm like room temperature,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cHe was such a good friend. We had so many conversations about relationships and just being friends, you know? He was just a good guy. A lot of people miss him because he was one of those people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018He always made people feel really seen and heard\u2019<\/p>\n Lev Schlaffer owns Ashby Arts Space at 2035 Ashby Ave. He said Anderson got musicians paying gigs, venues in which to play, and created events in places that didn\u2019t have them.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was this sparkling beacon of radiant energy,\u201d Schlaffer said.\u201d He always made people feel really seen and heard. \u201cHe just was a person who was very human to human and was able to bring people together.\u201d<\/p>\n Jimmy Leslie writes for Guitar Player magazine and occasionally played with Anderson\u2019s band Oakadelic.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI hung out with him a lot,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cHe\u2019s the guy you get the text from (at) midnight and you\u2019re thinking you\u2019re going to bed. He\u2019s like \u2018It\u2019s just getting going, we got a backline, come over here.\u2019 He\u2019s the guy tempting you to come out and stay out all night.\u201d<\/p>\n Friends have started a GoFundMe<\/a> page in Anderson\u2019s name to help raise funds for his funeral and memorial service, as well as other costs. As of noon Friday, the crowdfunding had collected just over $18,000 donated by 244 people.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tFlock license plate scanner contract postponed by Alameda County leaders<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 12, 2026Feb. 12, 2026, 11:44 a.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tCity Council fires head of Berkeley\u2019s civilian police oversight office<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 9, 2026Feb. 10, 2026, 8:08 p.m.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/E7787F1D-1C4E-4F99-96C9-BDD70951A695-2560x1920.jpeg\")
A man looks at a memorial for Anthony Anderson set up at at the Starry Plough where a jam was held on Feb. 12, 2025 to remember the 40-year-old trumpet player who was shot and killed on Feb. 9 outside his San Leandro home by deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Credit: Tony Hicks
\nKilling will be investigated by California DA<\/p>\n
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