Man Arrested Thursday Now Suspected in Double Shooting

ALAMEDA, CA - A man arrested for shooting two gas station employees in Alameda over the weekend has been released from jail while another man found acting erratically on Thursday is now suspected in the crime, police said Friday.

Edward Bessonov, 29, is now a suspect in the shooting at the am/pm station at 1260 Park St. at about 11 p.m. on Saturday.

Two employees at the store were wounded by gunfire and taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland. They are expected to survive.

Police initially arrested a 25-year-old man who lives nearby and concluded he was the shooter based on witness accounts, police said. He was booked into jail but later released after investigators ruled him out as a suspect.

On Thursday just after 8 a.m., police received reports of a man standing in the middle of Shoreline Drive near Park Street and yelling at people. But by the time police arrived he had gotten into his car and left.

A few minutes later, police received reports of a road rage incident believed to involve the same man near Washington Park, about two miles away. Police arrived and tried to take the man into custody but he fled in his car.

Officers chased him briefly until he stopped about two blocks away in the 1000 block of Central Avenue. At first he refused to leave his car and police called an armored SWAT vehicle to the area, at which point he surrendered.

Investigators identified him as Bessonov and think that he was responsible for the gas station shooting, but did not disclose any evidence for their suspicion. Bessonov is being held in Santa Rita Jail without bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday morning, according to jail records.

--Bay City News; Image via Alameda Police Dept.