Sacramento County Sheriff's Office investigators are working a violent incident that took place on the evening of April 18 at Howe Community Park just as law enforcement were breaking up an unauthorized event of several hundred people.
Prior to the Shooting
Officers from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office initially got calls about the park around 6:30 Saturday evening after being notified of subjects reportedly carrying hidden weapons. Not long after, a second call came in describing a potential altercation breaking out at the location.
A law enforcement helicopter searched from above but reported no active disturbance. Even read more so, authorities discovered that a crowd of several hundred had assembled at the park in an unauthorized manner.
The Shooting Itself
Officers worked to disperse the crowd by positioning themselves around the crowd and broadcasting over loudspeakers ordering the crowd to disperse at once. Roughly 15 minutes were spent for the crowd to leave.
It was during this dispersal that between 20 and 25 rounds were discharged. The barrage of gunfire sent hundreds fleeing. Deputies quickly moved to finding those who had been shot.
Those Who Were Hit
Ultimately, four individuals were identified as having gunshot wounds. The victims — including a female and three males all reportedly in their 20s — were airlifted or driven to local Sacramento hospitals. Medical teams stated that two had critical injury classifications, one victim's injuries were classified as moderate, and one victim's wounds were minor. Fortunately, no fatalities were reported and all four were stable.
Sacramento fire crews were called to the scene and helped care for the injured at the park.
What Investigators Found
The main crime scene was determined to have taken place adjacent to Cottage Way next to the Home Depot store located at the 2200 block of Howe Avenue. Crime scene investigators identified additional shell casings on Cottage Way. Round impacts were identified in the iron fence near the Home Depot store. These discoveries suggested that a shooter had been firing southward from Cottage Way aimed at the Home Depot store. The nearby Home Depot was put under lockdown during the incident. Crime scene technicians and detectives kept processing evidence for hours.
Detainees in Solano County
Information obtained over scanner radio traffic showed that a Kia connected to the shooting had been detained in Solano County California. Four individuals were held for questioning. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies were traveling to Solano County to transport the detainees for processing in Sacramento County. Footage analyzed by investigators showed that two individuals had fired weapons.