Sacramento County deputies are probing a violent incident that broke out Saturday night April 18 at Howe Park as Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies were dissolving an unauthorized event of multiple hundreds of people.
How It Started
Law enforcement first arrived at Howe Community Park just after 6:30 in the evening after receiving reports of subjects reportedly carrying hidden weapons. Not long after, a second caller reported mentioning a reported physical confrontation breaking out inside the park.
An overhead unit conducted an aerial sweep but reported no active disturbance. Regardless, authorities discovered that hundreds of people had come together at the location without any permit or approval.
The Moment Gunfire Erupted
Officers started clearing the unauthorized gathering by encircling the gathering and broadcasting over loudspeakers telling those gathered to vacate the area. Around 15 minutes were provided for the gathering to break up.
While deputies worked to disperse the gathering that upwards of 20 gunshots cut through the air. Gunfire sparked chaos as hundreds ran. Law enforcement immediately began locating gunshot victims.
Four Gunshot Victims
Altogether, four victims were found to have been shot. All four — consisting of one woman and three men each reported click here to be in their early to late twenties — were brought to Sacramento area hospitals. Medical personnel indicated that two were treated for serious injuries, one victim's injuries were classified as moderate, and one sustained minor gunshot wounds. In a positive development, each of the four victims was stable.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department arrived on scene and helped triage those with gunshot wounds on location.
What Investigators Found
Most of the gunfire appears to have taken place on Cottage Way near the local Home Depot situated at the 2200 block of Howe Ave. Investigators found additional shell casings scattered along Cottage Way. Bullet holes were noted in the wrought iron fence surrounding the Home Depot store. This evidence pointed to that at least one shooter had been firing southward from the Cottage Way area in the direction of the Home Depot store. The Home Depot was secured under a brief lockdown as a precaution. CSI units alongside detectives kept processing evidence well into the night.
Detainees in Solano County
Information obtained through scanner monitoring revealed that a Kia was contacted by law enforcement in nearby Solano County. Four suspects were taken into custody. Law enforcement units were en route to collect those detained to return them to Sacramento for questioning. Video evidence showed that two individuals had fired weapons.