An Oak Park family, fearing for their safety, has moved out after a daylight shooting injured relatives, including a 4-year-old child. No arrests have been made.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An Oak Park family is speaking out three weeks after a daytime shooting outside their home left several relatives injured, including a four-year-old child, as they say fear and trauma have forced them from the place they lived for decades.
The family, who said they have lived in the neighborhood for nearly 40 years, described the shooting as a sudden and violent attack that unfolded as they returned home from a routine outing.
“It’s scary. My only son, my only nephew, I have a lot of onlys, and almost all of my onlys were taken from me in front of our home that we grew up in. It’s very hard,” said Dawn Wilson, whose 4-year-old son, mother and nephew were all shot.
Her sister, Caselle Wilson, said the family had just returned from getting ice cream when the shooting began.
“We went for ice cream at Gunther’s, which is local to our neighborhood. Great time, enjoyed ice cream, came back, got out the car to walk up to the door, and were under fire,” she said.
Bullets struck a grandmother, a four-year-old child and a 19-year-old man and a nearby neighbor. The child, identified as Legend, is recovering after being shot in the leg and is now using a cast and wheelchair.
“I remember that all my family got shot,” the child said.
He initially thought the gunfire was something else.
“We thought that was firecrackers, but since everybody fell down and got shot and had blood on them, we noticed that were shooting. And we tried all to run away but we couldn’t,” he said.
No arrests have been made, according to the Sacramento Police Department, and the family said that uncertainty has left them feeling unsafe in their longtime home.
“Who are these people? Are they gonna do this again? I just don’t understand why the city isn’t on fire,” Caselle Wilson said. “You have somebody running down the street in broad daylight just shooting at random individuals, and everyone’s quiet.”
Support has come from Empact, a community organization working with the family. Its founder said the lack of outreach has been concerning.
“The intent was to take their lives — that’s what the intent was — and that’s dangerous,” said Leia Schenk. “That sets a very dangerous precedent when something like this can happen, and you don’t have the city officials coming out here reaching out to family, you don’t have law enforcement coming out here reaching out to family, and then also the community organizations.”
Caselle Wilson also questioned whether race and location are factors in the case.
“I highly feel like it’s because we live in Oak Park, and that we’re Black is why we do not have answers,” she said.
In a statement, Sacramento police released this statement:
“Regarding this case, the Sacramento Police Department continues to follow up on actionable leads that we cannot share details on in an effort to protect the integrity of the investigation. We understand that victims often want answers quickly, but as our detectives work cases, one of our primary obligations are identifying and locating suspects, and presenting thorough and untainted cases to the District Attorney’s Office.”
The family is urging anyone with information to come forward.
Four wounded, including 4-year-old, in Sacramento shooting search ongoing