Victim killed in shooting near UC Berkeley campus was seminary student from San Diego
BERKELEY -- The Berkeley seminary school where the young man who died in last weekend's fatal shooting on Telegraph Avenue was studying announced a vigil was being held for the victim in San Lorenzo Thursday evening.
A press release issued by the Pacific School of Religion said that the man who died, identified by authorities earlier this week as 29-year-old Isamaeli Semaia Mataafa, was a student at the school's Master of Divinity program.
"The entire Pacific School of Religion community grieves deeply for the sudden and tragic death of Isamaeli (Eli) Mata'afa," the release read.
He began his studies at the school in the spring of 2020 on a presidential scholarship. school officials said.
Mataafa was one of four people shot at around 1 a.m. early last Saturday morning at the intersection of Telegraph Avenue and Durant Avenue following an arguement, according to Berkeley police. The other three victims were taken to area hospitals for treatment. School officials said Mataafa was out with friends and relatives in Berkeley when the incident happened.
Mataafa came to the Berkeley seminary school after graduating from Kanana Fou Theological Seminary in American Samoa, an institution that Pacific School of Religion has close ties with, officials said. He was pursuing a Master of Divinity "to serve God and his community in San Lorenzo" where he lived as well as the greater Bay Area. School officials noted Mataafa was also interested in addressing climate change from a theological perspective.
Staff at the Pacific School of Religion erected a small memorial for Mataafa near the entrance of the school.
"Isamaeli was a beautiful soul. He was a good person, devoted family man, dedicated minister," said Leonard McMahon, an assistant professor who had Mataafa as a student in multiple classes.
McMahon said the news of Mataafa's death came during class in an email from his cousin, a fellow student at the school.
"She told us that she wouldn't be in class -- she was going to present -- but she wouldn't make it because her cousin was killed," explained McMahon. "[He was] shot and killed. And we were all devastated. We took a moment. We prayed."
McMahon said his students sat in silence for a while, then dedicated the rest of their studies that day to their fallen classmate who McMahon described as thoughtful and loving.
Lisa Asedillo, another professor at the school, took time during class Thursday to help her students craft an altar for Mataafa.
"We wanted to mark aside like some sacred space to honor Isamaeli," Asedillo said. "This murder has caused the community to unite and like come together and take care of each other in such a profound way."
School officials said a prayer vigil was scheduled to be held outside of San Lorenzo Community Church at 945 Paseo Grande at 7 p.m. Thursday evening and would be led by the young people Mataafa oversaw as a youth leader in Oakland. A memorial for the Pacific School of Religion community is also in the planning stages, officials said.
KPIX has learned that he had previously resided in San Diego.
"Eli embodied everything our PSR family holds dear. He was a person of deep personal faith and was a leader and mentor in his community with a desire to create a world where all can thrive. He had much more to give before he was taken from us," PSR president Rev. David Vásquez-Levy said in the release. "Today and in the days to come, our prayers go out to Eli Mata'afa's family — no parent should suffer the loss of a child, and certainly not to gun violence."
Sara Donchey contributed to this story.