Drive-by shootings, homicide mar Memorial Day weekend in south Sacramento

At least seven shootings marred the Memorial Day weekend, and eclipsed a holiday that commemorates fallen soldiers with a burst of street warfare.

South Sacramento was the primary setting for the violence.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the May 30 drive-by shooting that brought a hail of gunfire down on four men and one woman, aged 18 to 64, standing near a front yard of a residence in the Oak Park neighborhood.

An 18-year-old male remained in critical condition on Tuesday after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head the previous afternoon, said department spokesman Sgt. Tony Turnbull. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District transported him and two other gunshot victims to local hospitals, while a fourth, also in critical condition, was driven separately. A fifth victim was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The victims were standing on one side of the street when gunfire erupted from a dark-colored compact vehicle driving south on 44th Street toward 15th Avenue in central Oak Park, Turnbull said. “There was a small gathering at a residence,” he added. “Some victims were from there, some were not.”

A day later, it remained unclear how many occupants were in the suspect vehicle. Turnbull said there was no indication the shooting was gang-related “at this point.”

On May 29, the body of a 15-year-old girl was discovered dead from an upper-body gunshot wound in a parked car in south Sacramento. Sheriff’s detectives booked a 17-year-old male into juvenile hall Monday morning on suspicion of committing the murder of Macy Murphy.

The drive-by violence continued into Tuesday afternoon, when a 20-year-old man was shot standing in the front yard of a Foothill Farms residence. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Sacramento Police Department responded to five shootings in the same three-day span, including two suspected drive-bys.