A woman riding in an Uber was killed and another passenger wounded when gunfire erupted outside a crowded late-night party along Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento County in mid-March, prompting a five-week investigation that ended with five arrests, including one man who fled to Puerto Rico, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said.
The shooting on March 15 was traced to a “pop-up” party, where a large crowd had converged. Witnesses told detectives that a group of four to five men had retrieved handguns from a nearby vehicle and fired about 70 rounds toward another group in a nearby parking lot.
Detectives later determined that the group had been waiting for a rapper and his associates to leave the party. When they appeared, the five suspects got out of a vehicle and opened fire, officials said.
In the midst of the shooting, two Uber passengers were “caught in the crossfire,” according to law enforcement. When authorities were dispatched around midnight to the street, they found a man and woman inside a vehicle with gunshot wounds. The Uber was trying to leave the parking lot when the shooting started. Officials said the pair were not involved in the dispute.
Deputies provided medical assistance for both of the shooting victims until more emergency personnel arrived. The man was taken to a hospital. Officials said he is expected to live. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
On April 20, four suspects — two adults and two juveniles — were arrested in connection with the shooting. Those taken into custody include 18-year-old Kymani Agbouti of Vallejo and 18-year-old Avante Washington of Antelope, along with two juveniles from Oakland and Sacramento. On April 29, a fifth suspect, Emeryville resident Juan Colmenero, 20, was taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport after authorities said he had fled to Puerto Rico. He was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail.
All five face homicide charges.