1 arrested in deadly Sacramento City College fight; gunman still at large
Sacramento City College reopened Friday with extra police on campus, along with grief counselors and a chaplain, after a triple shooting the day before left one student dead and two others wounded.
Authorities identified the slain student as 25-year-old Roman Gonzalez. Police said he was part of a fight between two groups of people that escalated when someone pulled out a knife and another person pulled out a gun.
Gonzalez and two other men, all enrolled at the college, according to school officials, were shot in a parking lot next to the college’s baseball field, near Sutterville and East roads, the Sacramento Police Department said.
On Friday, police arrested Rico Ridgeway, one of the men injured in the shooting, for allegedly wielding the knife. He was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and is being held without bail because he was on parole.
School officials said they were setting up a crisis hotline and had arranged for an “increased police presence” on campus.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy, and offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” school President Kathryn E. Jeffery said in a statement.
The confrontation started as a verbal dispute “and escalated from there to fists, then to weapons,” said Rick Brewer, a college spokesman. “One young man pulled out a semi-automatic handgun from his pocket and began shooting.”
The campus was locked down for part of the afternoon and early evening.
Gonzalez was pronounced dead and another man was taken to the hospital in serious condition. Ridgeway’s injuries were minor; officials said he was grazed by the gunfire.
After the campus was locked down, police searched each building and evacuated those inside, emptying the campus by 6:30 p.m. Police declared an “all clear” at the campus about 7:45 p.m., officials said.
Police say the gunman, believed to be the only shooter, fled on foot and has not been caught. It’s unclear whether the gunman was also enrolled at the college or if the shooting was gang-related, police said.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
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