Officials in Sacramento County are probing a violent incident that took place Saturday night April 18 at Howe Community Park as deputies were shutting down an unauthorized event of a crowd of several hundred.
How It Started
Officers from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office first arrived at the park on Howe Avenue at approximately 6:30 PM on April 18 after getting calls of individuals possibly carrying concealed weapons. After that, another report was received about an alleged brawl occurring at the location.
A sheriff's airship searched from above but was unable to locate the reported altercation. Despite this, it was apparent that an enormous crowd had gathered without authorization in an unauthorized manner.
The Dispersal and Shooting
Responding units began the process of clearing the park by encircling the gathering and announcing over their public address systems telling attendees to vacate the area. Nearly 15 minutes were provided for the gathering to break up.
As the crowd was being cleared that an estimated 20 to 25 shots were fired. The barrage of gunfire sent the crowd running in all directions. Officers immediately began looking for those injured.
The Shooting Victims
In total, four people were discovered with shooting injuries. Those injured — consisting of one woman and three men each reported to be in their mid to late twenties — were check here transported to local Sacramento hospitals. Doctors and nurses reported that two had critical injury classifications, one sustained moderate wounds, and one had injuries classified as minor. Fortunately, each of the four victims was stable.
Metro Fire Sacramento were called to the scene and helped care for those with gunshot wounds at the scene.
What Investigators Found
Most of the gunfire was believed to have occurred near Cottage Way near the Home Depot located at the 2200 block of Howe Avenue. Investigators located more spent casings throughout the Cottage Way area. Round impacts were noted in the iron perimeter fence bordering the Home Depot store. This ballistic evidence suggested that a shooter had been sending rounds south from the Cottage Way area aimed at the Home Depot. The nearby Home Depot was placed on lockdown for a period of time. Forensic investigators and law enforcement detectives kept processing evidence through the early morning hours.
Suspects Detained
Information relayed over police scanner frequencies confirmed that a Kia had been stopped in the Solano County area. Four detainees were detained. Sacramento law enforcement were dispatched to Solano County to collect the individuals for questioning. Surveillance footage established that the shooting involved two separate gunmen.