Teen Suspect Arrested In Santa Rosa Soccer Park Shootings
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A 17-year-old from Rohnert Park has been arrested, accused of being the gunman who opened fire at a Santa Rosa park on Wednesday evening, wounding an 11-year-old boy, a soccer coach and two others, authorities said Friday.
Santa Rosa police said their investigation led them to the teen who was taken into custody in Mendocino County during a traffic stop on Highway 128 near Boonville.
While the shooting suspect's name was not released, he was being held in juvenile hall on attempted murder and gang-related charges.
Michael Beltran, a 23-year-old Santa Rosa resident, and Lukas Philip Cortina, a 19-year-old Santa Rosa resident, were also taken into custody during the stop and were being held on gang-related charges and also for assisting the alleged gunman's attempt to elude police.
Police received several 911 calls about a shooting with multiple victims at Jacobs Park near the intersection of Link Lane and W. 9th Street on Wednesday night.
When officers arrived on scene, they discovered three victims of gunshot wounds, including an 11-year-old male, 21-year-old male and 46-year-old male. All three victims were shot one time and were transported to a local hospital. None of the injuries were considered to be life threatening.
Hours later, a fourth victim showed up at a local hospital for treatment of a grazing bullet wound. He is a 20-year-old male that was treated and released from the hospital.
Investigators said that there were hundreds of people at the park attending or playing in several soccer games at the time of the shooting, which began with a confrontation between the 21-year-old victim and his friends and the occupants of a dark colored SUV.
"A passenger inside the dark colored SUV yelled gang challenges at the group," police said in a news release. "A young Hispanic male passenger got out of the SUV with a handgun and aggressively approached the victim. The victim attempted to run away. he suspect fired at least ten rounds at the victim in a western direction, down the sidewalk."
The 21-year-old victim was shot one time in the upper chest. The flurry of stray bullets stuck the 11-year-old who was walking to a car, the 46-year-old, who was getting soccer gear out of his car, and the 20-year-old victim who was sitting on a wooden post along the edge of the sidewalk getting his soccer cleats on.
"The 21-year-old victim was the intended target of the attack," police said in their statement. "The other three victims were innocent bystanders that were at the park to either play or watch soccer."
Police said the investigation remained on-going and detectives were actively working the case. The Santa Rosa Police Department is encouraging anyone who witnessed or has information regarding the incident to call the Gang Crimes Team at (707) 543-3670. Detectives believe this shooting was a targeted, gang-related incident.
