A San Rafael man was shot in the leg and arrested Monday morning after police say their Drone as First Responder program tracked him to a spot roughly a block from where gunfire erupted near Kerner Boulevard and Fairfax Street. Officers took 21-year-old San Rafael resident Alex Alfredo Velasquez-Perez into custody in the unit block of Larkspur Street, where the drone had spotted a person matching witness descriptions. He now faces felony assault with a deadly weapon or firearm along with a charge of carrying a concealed and loaded firearm in public.
According to the San Rafael Police Department
, dispatchers began fielding 911 calls shortly before 9 a.m. reporting a single gunshot near the intersection. Witnesses told police a male suspect had fired a handgun and then fled the scene. Investigators say Velasquez-Perez had become involved in a verbal confrontation with another man and began removing a handgun from a backpack when the weapon discharged, striking him in the leg; no other people were struck by gunfire, and detectives believe the confrontation may have stemmed from a street gang rivalry.
Police launched drones AIR 2 and AIR 3 to search for the shooting scene and the fleeing suspect, and officers broadcast a detailed description to responding personnel. AIR 3 located a person matching that description in the unit block of Larkspur Street, about a block from where the shooting occurred, and directed nearby officers to the location. Officers took Velasquez-Perez into custody, then observed his leg wound and provided first aid, and San Rafael Fire Department paramedics transported him to a local hospital with what police described as a non-life-threatening injury.
A Fast-Growing Aerial Program With a Track Record
Monday's arrest is the second reported firearm incident in nearly seven weeks in which the department's drone program directly enabled an arrest, following a July 28 incident in which overhead drones tracked two juvenile shooting suspects on Andersen Drive, per the San Rafael Police Department. The department also used a drone for aerial security during a joint search warrant operation with the San Francisco Police Department on Canal Street on August 6, according to the department's own release from that operation.
San Rafael's Drone as First Responder program officially launched in late October 2025 with its first aircraft, AIR1, which went on to respond to 113 police incidents before year's end, according to the City of San Rafael. City safety metrics attribute part of a 39-second drop in average Priority 1 emergency response times in 2025, down to 5:00 minutes, to those early drone deployments. The city council authorized the expansion in June 2025, approving a 36-month lease agreement capped at $500,000 for two additional unmanned aerial systems, a step required under California Assembly Bill 481, which mandates public approval of police military and tactical equipment purchases.
Investigators Move on Warrant and Weapon
After Velasquez-Perez was medically cleared, detectives obtained and served a search warrant at his residence, where they seized the handgun believed to have been used in the incident. He was booked into Marin County jail on the assault and weapons charges. Under California Penal Code Section 245(a)(2), assault with a firearm carries a potential state prison sentence of two, three, or four years and counts as a strike under the state's Three Strikes law, according to FindLaw.
Separately, Penal Code Sections 25400 and 25850 bar carrying a concealed and loaded firearm in public, offenses that can escalate from misdemeanors to felonies punishable by up to three years in state prison if gang enhancements or unregistered firearm ownership are proven, per the Law Office of Ann Gottesman. It remains to be seen whether Marin County prosecutors will pursue formal gang enhancements given investigators' belief that the confrontation was gang-related.
A Canal Neighborhood Still Investing in Safety
The shooting unfolded in San Rafael's Canal neighborhood, a densely populated area where street lighting has been installed at 34 locations. The Kerner Boulevard corridor has also seen recent housing investment nearby: Casa Canal, at 3301 Kerner Blvd, is a 100 percent permanent supportive housing facility converted from a former office building through the state's Project Homekey program, which opened to residents in April 2025, per Call Marin Home.
San Rafael police have also drawn on a $105,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, running through this month, to fund high-visibility public safety and enforcement operations citywide. Hoodline previously covered another Canal District public safety intervention in a bike-toss arrest case in the same neighborhood. Anyone with information on Monday's shooting can submit tips online at srpd.org/tips or call San Rafael police at (415) 485-3000.
