Cal Lockdown Brought Back Sad Memories for Bears Assistant Coach Vic So'oto

So'oto was on the Virginia staff when a 2017 incident shook up Charlottesville, Va.

Vic So'oto /

Thursday’s seven-hour Cal lockdown following a shooting incident on the Clark Kerr campus brought back some troubling memories for Golden Bears outside linebackers coach Vic So’oto.

“I was at the University of Virginia when everything went down there,” he said Friday.

He is referring to an August 12, 2017, incident in Charlottesville, Va., when a person driving a car rammed into a group of people protesting the presence of a white supremacist group.  The crash killed one person and injured 35 others, and it was a major national story. 

At the time, So’oto was in his second year as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia, which is located about a half-mile from the site of the crash at the Charlottesville Downtown Mall.

He recalls the Virgina athletic director coming to practice before then-head coach Bronco Mendenhall delivered the news.

No one was injured on Thursday morning when two shots were fired on the Cal campus, and So’oto was glad it did not have the ending of the incident seven years earlier.

“That was by far – it was probably 10, 100, however many times you want to put it against what happened yesterday,” So’oto said. “Sadly someone lost their life that day.

“But we heard about it [the Cal incident] when we came out to practice. Thankfully nothing more happened. For me personally I was just thinking along those lines of how big that incident [in Virginia] was or had been that happened, but thankfully it wasn’t like what happened in Charlottesville.”

Police gave up the search for the shooter of Thursday’s incident, but gave the all-clear signal around 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon.  Cal’s Thursday morning practice was postponed to Thursday afternoon, but Friday’s practice was back to its usual 9:30 a.m. starting time.

There has been no report that the shooter has been apprehended.

Many of the Cal football players were still unaware of exactly what had happened Thursday.

“The biggest thing for us was just keeping everybody safe,” Cal defensive lineman Akili Calhoun said. “It was a weird day.”

Endries on Mackey Watch List

Cal third-year sophomore tight end Jack Endries was one of 48 players named to the preseason watch list for the Mackey Award, which goes to the national’s top college tight end.  Endries had 35 receptions for 407 yards and two touchdwns last season as a redshirt freshman.

Injuries

Starting outside linebacker Xavier Carlton had to helped off the practice field on Friday  with an apparent leg injury, and he sat out the rest of practice.

Starting offensive guard Sioape Vatikano and probable starting slot receiver starter Mikey Matthews both sat of Friday’s practice again because of injuries.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport