SAN JOSE — A Berryessa resident has been convicted of shooting and wounding a man in an unprovoked encounter in which the two did not know each other and may have been driven by fears about recent crime in the neighborhood.
Mark Henry Waters, 68, was found guilty last Thursday of assault with a deadly weapon in the Oct. 2, 2022 shooting of a then-21-year-old man who was staying at a nearby Airbnb home off Piedmont Road and was walking to a grocery store when he was wounded.
The shooting garnered wide attention after the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office charged Waters a few weeks later and said it was exploring whether racial animus was a factor. Waters is white and the victim is Black, and the criminal complaint described Waters training a gun on and briefly pursuing the victim, who never set foot on Waters’ property.
Ultimately, no hate crime charges were filed. Waters has asserted on multiple occasions that he had recently experienced a car burglary in which one of his garage openers was stolen, and thought the thief might be returning.
But prosecutors pointed to home-security video recorded in the area that showed the man was never a threat and was simply walking by when he saw a gun pointed at his chest, prompting him to turn and run. He was shot in the leg by a trailing Waters, who would later claim that his semi-automatic firearm fired by accident.
Prosecutors also alleged at trial that Waters yelled at the man, “So you think you can run?” before opening fire.
“This man shot an innocent person on our streets for no sensible reason,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement Tuesday.
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In a statement to this news organization, Waters’ attorney Steven Clark emphasized his client had no prior criminal record and reiterated the impact of the vehicle burglary two days before the shooting.
“The thieves stole his garage door opener which made him believe they were coming back. The night of the shooting, his security camera indicated a prowler in his driveway, who may have been armed,” Clark wrote. “Mr. Waters mistakenly believed the victim was associated with the previous criminal acts. Mr. Waters is deeply remorseful for what occurred.”
The shooting victim, who has not sought public attention, needed to use a wheelchair and extensive rehabilitation after he was injured, and to this day cannot continue his pastime of running for exercise, prosecutors said.
Waters was arrested three days after the shooting and was initially freed after posting bail but was remanded to jail at his December 2022 arraignment, and he has been in jail custody since. He was also the subject of a gun-violence restraining order that temporarily seized his firearms from his home, though any such order will be moot since his felony conviction will bar him from legally owning or possessing guns.
Waters faces a maximum prison term of 22 years and his sentencing is scheduled for May 22.