SACRAMENTO, Calif — At least 30 people, including a 13-year-old, have been shot in the Sacramento area since late May. Nine of those shootings have become homicide investigations.
Officials from the Sacramento Police Department and the Sheriff's Office say the drastic increase in shootings began to occur in late May. Some of the 17 shootings that happened across Sacramento involved juveniles, one of whom is as young as 13 years old. None of the shootings involving juveniles have resulted in a death.
Officials believe a "significant number" of the shootings are gang-related.
"We are encouraging community members to report suspicious activity to our Communication Center and work collaboratively with our deputies and detectives in an effort to stop these violent crimes from continuing," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Tess Deterding.
Sacramento police said on June 11 that a shooting that left a woman in critical condition could have been the latest in a string of gang-related incidents.
Police found the woman after she had been shot near the 4000 block of Broadway. Officials believed the shooter was not targeting the victim.
At the time, police said there were about 25 shootings that occurred within the city and that three shootings lead to deaths.
Julius Thibodeaux, a local leader with anti-gun violence program Advance Peace, said his organization predicted a possible surge in violence.
“I think everyone has to consider that these are extraordinary times with two pandemics going on," said Thibodeaux. "We were already fighting the gun violence pandemic and then COVID-19 hit. And then you have civil unrest throughout the nation... with police murders.”
Police and community advocates are ramping up efforts in hopes of ending the violence.
“I’m always hopeful. It’s hard to do this work without being hopeful,” said Thibodeaux.
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