It has been a violent month for the city of Antioch, which has been rocked by nearly a dozen shootings since Labor Day weekend. Police believe the cases are related and are asking for the community’s help in finding the suspects.
The spree began with the deadly Sept. 3 shooting of 21-year-old Elijah Scales. Since then, five other people have been wounded — two critically — in at least 11 shootings.
“This spate of violence will not be tolerated,” Interim Chief of Police Brian Addington said in a statement Tuesday. “We have rearranged staffing and assigned two officers to patrol the Sycamore Corridor for at least the next seven days. This effort aims to reduce gun violence and provide a sense of safety to the community and local businesses.”
Scales was killed in the 2100 block of Peppertree Way.
At 7:26 p.m. the next day, Sept. 4, a 31-year-old man was shot in the leg, also in the 2100 block of Peppertree Way. Police said multiple firearms were used to fire at least 32 bullets. At 8:59 p.m., police responded to a report of gunfire in the same block, where 11 bullets were fired from multiple guns, some of which struck a nearby building.
At 9:31 p.m. on Sept. 7, a 52-year-old woman was shot in the leg in the parking lot of Sycamore Square. Police said multiple firearms fired 29 bullets.
At 8:21 p.m. Sept. 12, a resident of the 2100 block of Lemontree Way was grazed by a stray bullet and suffered a minor injury to his neck that did not need medical attention. At least 26 bullets were fired, some of which struck two nearby homes.
Ten minutes later, someone reported at least three bullets being fired, one of which hit a nearby business in the 1000 block of Fitzuren Road. Police said that a minute later, someone fired three bullets in the 2900 block of Pear Street.
At 9:10 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, a home and an unoccupied vehicle were struck when someone fired at least 13 bullets near Sycamore Drive at Peppertree Way.
At 2:40 a.m. Sept. 16, multiple firearms fired at least 12 bullets in the 600 block of G Street. At 4:54 p.m., a man was shot at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds. At least 30 shots were fired from multiple firearms.
Shots were then reported at 7:46 p.m. Near L Street at William Reed Drive. Multiple firearms fired 50 or more bullets and two businesses were struck. Two minutes later, a 58-year-old man was shot at 7:48 p.m. in the 1800 block of Cavallo Road at a memorial gathering for Scales.
Police said anyone with information about the shootings can contact Sgt. Bill Whitaker at 925-779-6876.
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