SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On the heels of a deadly cemetery shooting, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is looking into the possibility of that shooting being gang-related.
Both the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office and the Sacramento Police Department have released new data requested by ABC10, highlighting what's become a surge of gun violence in the South Sacramento area.
Zarrie Allen, 18, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting Monday evening while visiting a gravesite with friends at a Sacramento cemetery.
The sheriff's office said they don't believe Allen was the intended target.
"My cousin was an innocent bystander," said Breonna Williams, the victim's cousin.
According to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, her death marks the 25th homicide in the county so far this year, which is eight more than the county experienced at this time last year.
"With the uptick of violence that we're seeing in that South Sacramento area, if this was not the intended victim, this is not the first time an innocent bystander has lost their life in the past couple of months," said Sgt. Tess Deterding, spokesperson for sheriff's office.
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The sheriff's office said gang violence has made a significant impact on both the number of shootings and the number of homicides in the past several months.
Last month, both the sheriff's office and Sacramento Police alerted the community to this spike in gun violence. Sgt. Deterding said the sheriff's office attributes a large part of that gun violence spike to a "gang war' in that area.
On the city's side of things, Sacramento police said it hasn't let up for them either.
Just ten minutes away from where Zarrie Allen was killed, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed on Mack Road earlier this month. It rounds up to 28 total homicides within city limits so far this year, at least nine more than this time last year.
Police said that, while the cause for the rise in gun violence is not immediately clear, some of the of gun violence does stem from gang activity.
"You killed someone at a cemetery," said Berry Accius, founder of Voices of Youth. You a get no wins for that. You get no wins. This is not a score on their scoreboard. This is just another cowardly act."
Accius said he noticed a clear uptick in crime and brought it to the attention of city officials at the end of May.
"We were already ahead of the curve. We already said, 'investment!'" he said. "This is what we need, and people fell on deaf ears. So, I'm hoping that these city officials will hear about this. Instead of saying words or 'we grieve with the families,' show it in investment because this could have been prevented."
Just a day after Allen was killed, City Council promised to give $2 million worth of federal coronavirus relief funds to the Black Child Legacy Campaign, a coalition of community groups dedicated to ending preventable deaths in black and at-risk communities throughout Sacramento County.
RELATED: Sacramento City Council promises $2 million to Black Child Legacy Campaign as gun violence rises
The sheriff's office hopes the statistics will make an impression on the community of South Sacramento, just like they say it's making on the homicide detectives in their department who are working to better understand what's happening and stop the rise in violence.
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