Officials in Sacramento County are looking into a violent incident that occurred Saturday night April 18 at Howe Park in Sacramento as authorities were dispersing an unsanctioned gathering of an estimated several hundred individuals.
Prior to the Shooting
Sacramento County law enforcement first arrived at the Arden-Arcade park around 6:30 in the evening after learning of subjects reportedly carrying hidden weapons. Soon after, a second call came in mentioning a possible fight taking place within the park grounds.
An overhead unit scanned the area from the air but found nothing to substantiate the fight report. Regardless, it became clear that hundreds of people had packed into the park without official sanction.
The Moment Gunfire Erupted
Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies started clearing the unauthorized gathering by surrounding the park and using their vehicle PA systems ordering the crowd to vacate the area. About 15 minutes were allotted for attendees to disperse.
Just as the crowd began to move that between 20 and 25 rounds cut through the air. The shots sparked chaos as hundreds ran. Officers immediately began looking for those injured.
Four People Shot
By the time the scene was secured, four people were identified as having gunshot wounds. The four individuals — a group of one female and three male victims each apparently in their 20s at the time of the incident — were brought to Sacramento area hospitals. Medical personnel reported that two had critical injury classifications, one had moderate injuries, and one person's injuries were considered minor. Thankfully, no fatalities were reported and all four were stable.
The Sacramento Metropolitan here Fire District also responded and helped triage the injured at the park.
Physical Evidence
The center of the incident seemed to have happened near the Cottage Way side of the park adjacent to the Home Depot store at the 2200 block of Howe Ave. Detectives found additional spent rounds on the Cottage Way roadway. Bullet holes were observed in the wrought iron perimeter fencing near the Home Depot store. This ballistic evidence pointed to that a shooter had been sending rounds south from the Cottage Way area toward the Home Depot store. That Home Depot location was secured under a brief lockdown for a period of time. CSI units alongside detectives continued working for hours.
Detainees in Solano County
Information obtained over scanner radio traffic established that a suspect Kia had been detained in the Solano County area. Four detainees were stopped and detained. Law enforcement units were sent to retrieve the detainees to bring the suspects back for formal questioning. Footage analyzed by investigators confirmed that two individuals had fired weapons.