Elijah Warren, a UC Berkeley senior and a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head on Oct. 1 in his Oakland home. He was 26 years old.

Police found Warren at his residence on the 1900 block of 90th Street in Oakland at 3 p.m. on Oct. 1, said Oakland Police spokesperson Jeff Thomason. Warren did not leave a suicide note, Thomason said.

About 20 friends and family members came to Warren's wake in Oakland on Wednesday to bid farewell to a man who they said was intelligent, ambitious and articulate. His sudden passing shocked his loved ones, many of whom said there had been no indication that Warren would take his own life.

"No tell-tale signs," said Geoff Warren, his older brother. "A really cool, calm guy."

Elijah Warren, an Oakland native, leaves behind an ex-wife, Traci Lee-Warren, and a 10-year-old stepson, Jinho Warren. He would have graduated this spring from UC Berkeley with a degree in political science, family members said.

Before enrolling at UC Berkeley, Warren had dropped out of high school in ninth grade. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17 and served in the Special Forces for eight years, during which time he learned Arabic and traveled through Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Family members said they did not notice any signs of depression in Warren when he returned from overseas in 2005.

"Elijah was a good soldier, obeyed commands given to him," said Rev. Earl Hooker, assistant minister at Sweet Home Baptist Church in East Oakland. "We got to learn from Elijah how to be caring and helpful to one another."

Starting in 2005, Warren also took community college classes in Alameda.

"I don't come across a student like Elijah often, one in a million ... he was the younger brother I never had. It's hard, a void in my life, the pain is there," said Maurice Jones, Warren's English instructor at the community college.

After he transferred to UC Berkeley in 2007, Warren continued to pursue his passions for study and debate in the classroom.

"I was particularly impressed by his passion in class discussions," said Peter Ryan, Warren's Political Science 104 GSI, in an e-mail.

UC Berkeley senior Antonio Herrera, one of Warren's best friends, said that Warren possessed a unique intelligence.

"He was so smart, it didn't make sense," he said.

Warren, along with his brothers, also taught for a self-defense mentoring program at Berkeley Technology Academy. He trained high school students in a physically rigorous regimen and spoke to them about the importance of attending college, often drawing on his own personal experiences.

"They saw him at Berkeley, forcing them to sign up for college. And what could they say?" Geoff Warren said.

Another brother, Jinho Warren, said it is difficult to justly define Elijah's character.

"He was an activist, socialist, every adjective that you can think of (for) an intelligent black man," he said.

Warren's funeral will be held this Thursday at 11 a.m. at East Oakland Deliverance Center in Oakland.

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