Sacramento County Sheriff's Office investigators are examining a violent incident that took place Saturday night April 18 at the Howe Community Park area as deputies were shutting down an unlawful assembly of multiple hundreds of people.
Background
Sacramento County law enforcement were first dispatched to the park around 6:30 Saturday evening after receiving reports of individuals possibly carrying concealed weapons. After that, a follow-up call was made regarding a reported physical confrontation taking place inside the park.
Aerial units was sent to survey the area but could not confirm any ongoing fight. Nevertheless, deputies found that several hundred individuals had gathered without authorization in an unauthorized manner.
The Dispersal and Shooting
Officers began the process of clearing the park by forming a perimeter and announcing over their public address systems ordering the assembled crowd to disperse at once. Roughly 15 minutes were spent for the gathering to break up.
While deputies worked to disperse the gathering that an estimated 20 to 25 shots were discharged. The sudden gunfire caused mass panic. Law enforcement swiftly started identifying shooting victims.
Four Gunshot Victims
By the time the scene was secured, four shooting victims were located with gunshot injuries. The victims — comprising three men and one woman all believed to be in their early to late twenties — were airlifted or driven to hospitals in the Sacramento area. Hospital staff confirmed that two had critical injury classifications, one sustained moderate wounds, and one sustained minor gunshot wounds. As of last report, each of the four victims was stable.
Metro Fire Sacramento provided support and helped triage the injured on location.
The Investigation
The center of the incident appears to have happened along the Cottage Way corridor next to the Home Depot store on the 2200 block of Howe Ave. Investigators found additional spent rounds scattered along Cottage Way. Bullet damage were identified in the wrought iron fence adjacent to the Home Depot. The physical evidence showed that one of the gunmen had been sending rounds south from along Cottage Way aimed at the Home Depot store. The nearby Home Depot was put under lockdown while the scene was active. Crime scene personnel worked tirelessly well into the night.
Arrests Made
Intelligence received through law Sacramento park shooting 2026 enforcement radio communications revealed that a Kia was pulled over in the Solano County area. Four individuals were in the vehicle at the time of the stop. Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies were traveling to Solano County to pick up those detained for processing in Sacramento County. Video evidence made clear that two separate shooters participated in the incident.