United States – On Tuesday, police said four Santa Rosa residents were arrested in connection with two separate gang-related shootings that claimed the lives of young men in the space of a week. Three other Santa Rosa residents, including two minors, were arrested the previous week in connection with the first of two fatal shootings in the city, a June 16 drive-by shooting that killed a 15-year-old boy on Ave. Corby.
Santa Rosa Police Department Lt. Chris Mahurin said Tuesday that three youths were suspected of murder Monday in connection with the second incident, which took place on Saturday and resulted in the death of a 15-year-old boy on Smith’s Road. . A 21-year-old man believed to be the shooter in the June 16 incident was also apprehended by officers from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, he added.
Around 5 p.m., SWOT and crisis negotiators assisted Santa Rosa detectives in serving an arrest warrant at a house in the 500 block of Southwood Drive. Two teenagers, ages 15 and 14, were arrested without incident and taken to Los Guilicos Juvenile Hall in Santa Rosa, where 16-year-old resident and high school student Elsie Allen is being held. Mahurin said detectives investigated the house about a mile from the scene of the shooting, but were unable to find a weapon.
The juvenile warrant for the 15-year-old was issued by Solano County, where he committed robbery with a knife and was placed on probation. Due to the young age of the suspects, we will not release their identity. All three teens are suspected members of the same gang, and Santa Rosa police are working with the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office to pursue possible gang enhancement charges and investigate the teens’ level of involvement in the gangs.
Beneath the 15-year-old victim who was shot on Saturday, at least one gun was discovered that night. In a hospital the next day, he died. During the gang-related interaction, police suspect the boy, an Elsie Allen High School graduate who now attends Amoroso Academy, of the shooting. According to their investigation, the incident began as an argument but quickly turned into a shootout. Mahurin said two other teenagers were there when the shooting happened, but police have no plans to arrest them.
