Law enforcement in Sacramento are probing a shooting that took place Saturday evening at Howe Park in Sacramento while law enforcement were dissolving an unlawful assembly of hundreds of attendees.
Prior to the Shooting
Deputies initially responded to the Arden-Arcade park shortly before 6:30 PM on April 18 after receiving reports of people potentially armed with concealed firearms. Following that, a follow-up call was made about an alleged brawl taking place at Howe Park.
Aerial units scanned the area from the air but was unable to locate the reported altercation. Despite this, authorities discovered that hundreds of people had assembled at the park without official sanction.
When the Shots Rang Out
Responding units worked to here disperse the crowd by encircling the gathering and announcing over their public address systems commanding those gathered to leave immediately. Approximately 15 minutes were given for the gathering to break up.
Just as the crowd began to move that 20 to 25 gunshots rang out. The sudden gunfire caused mass panic. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies at once began locating gunshot victims.
Those Who Were Hit
By the time the scene was secured, four gunshot victims were identified as having gunshot wounds. The shooting victims — made up of one woman and three men each reported to be in their 20s at the time of the incident — were transported to hospitals in the Sacramento area. Hospital staff reported that two of the four had injuries classified as immediate, one of the four had moderate gunshot wounds, and one had injuries classified as minor. Thankfully, all four were expected to survive.
Metro Fire Sacramento assisted at the location and aided in treating the four victims before they were taken to the hospital.
Physical Evidence
The bulk of the shooting appears to have happened adjacent to Cottage Way adjacent to the local Home Depot located at the 2200 block of Howe Avenue. CSI personnel located more spent casings on the Cottage Way roadway. Bullet holes were discovered in the wrought iron perimeter fencing surrounding the Home Depot. This evidence suggested that at least one of the shooters had been sending rounds south from Cottage Way toward the Home Depot store. That Home Depot location was put under lockdown while law enforcement worked the area. CSI investigators and detectives kept processing evidence well into the night.
Detainees in Solano County
Details gathered through law enforcement radio communications showed that a Kia vehicle was pulled over in Solano County California. Four individuals were stopped and detained. Deputies were en route to collect those detained to transport the detainees for questioning. Surveillance footage confirmed that there were two gunmen.