STOCKTON, Calif. — The Stockton Police Department is investigating a shooting that left a man dead Friday morning in a North Stockton neighborhood.
A 50-year-old man was shot around 10 a.m. Friday near a park on Cosumnes Drive in the Spanos Park West area of Stockton, according to police. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The area where the deadly shooting happened is typically known to be quiet with crimes occurring less frequently than in other parts of the city, neighbors told ABC10.
For Floyd Wilson, an 18-year resident of Spanos Park West who lives just down the street from where the shooting happened, the sight of police tape blocking off his neighborhood was shocking.
"It's very upsetting. It's just something that doesn't happen in this neighborhood," said Wilson. "For crime to start to recede this far north in Stockton is very unusual."
The shooting comes more than four months after 18-year-old Isaias Lopez was shot and killed at another park in the Spanos Park West neighborhood of Stockton -- a crime that also left the community in shock and on edge.
No other information has been shared by investigators yet and officials are asking anyone with information to call the Stockton Police Department at 209-937-8377.
STOCKTON CRIME IN CONTEXT
An increase in homicide cases in Stockton during the early months of 2022 came on the heels of a decline in 2021, where police reported fewer homicides ending the year with a total of 38 cases.
While that’s not the lowest number the department has dealt with in the past 12 years, it is below the annual average of 40 homicide cases per year since 1995.
In response to the rise in homicides, community groups held prayer vigils and outreach events meant to unite Stockton residents against violence.
Activists have called on the community to show up to such events and work with local organizations such as Advance Peace, Faith in the Valley, Lighthouse of the Valley and the Office of Violence Prevention to discourage crime and help impacted communities heal.
Click here for a map of crime statistics.
In an interview with ABC10 in March, Stockton City Manager Harry Black said the Stockton Police Department is trying to prevent more deaths by working more on intelligence gathering and cooperating with federal partners such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshall's Service.
The city is also working to improve its crime prevention, intervention and fighting strategy, Black said. Representatives with the city's Office of Violence Prevention are working to be more present in communities impacted by crime. The office's 'peacekeepers program' places mediators and mentors in high-crime areas.
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