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Berkeley offers $50,000 reward for information on shooting death of Cal student

The University of California, Berkeley is seen in an undated photo. (iStock/Getty Images)

The city of Berkeley is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the person or people who fatally shot a University of California, Berkeley student while he took a walk in his neighborhood.

Seth Smith, 19, was found on the sidewalk bleeding and unresponsive Monday night near his apartment, the Berkeley Police Department said in a statement Thursday.


The department said it’s asking for anyone with information to come forward and that “even the smallest detail could be critical in solving this crime.”

Smith’s mother, Michelle Rode-Smith urged people to come forward, writing on Twitter “I need #Berkeley’s help. I can not rest until I know why my son Seth was taken from us. He enjoyed walking. He’d always been a night owl kid. He should not have been shot in the back of the head for walking on his street. This was in front of a house.”

The Sacramento-area native was set to graduate next year with a double major in history and economics. His plan was to apply for graduate school at the London School of Economics, the school’s newspaper, the Daily Cal, reported.