Santa Rosa police relaunching gang crimes team to combat street violence

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The Santa Rosa Police Department is relaunching a gang reduction team to curb street violence after two teenager were killed by alleged gang members in back-to-back weekends earlier this month.

Investigators say the latest victim, a 15-year-old from Santa Rosa, was shot Saturday evening near Bellevue Ranch Park. He was taken to a hospital with life-threatening wounds and died Sunday night.

"It sounded like fireworks," said neighbor Cindy Howard. "I looked out my window and saw some boys running down the street and came out here and there was another kid lying on the street."

Police said two rival groups of males in their teens and early 20s got into an argument on Blacksmith Way, near Arrowhead Drive. At least one member of each group pulled a gun and started shooting.

So far, no arrests have been made but a $2,500 reward is being offered by the Sonoma County Alliance Community Engagement and Safety Rewards Fund for information leading to the arrest of the suspects involved.

People have been leaving messages, signs and flowers at a memorial that was set up around a tree not far from where the teen was shot and collapsed.

"It breaks my heart," Howard said. "It makes me just sick that it’s happened in this neighborhood."

The county coroner has not yet released the name of the victim. Friends identified him only as Felix.  

He’s the second 15-year-old killed in back-to-back weekends of gang violence. 

Police said in another shooting more than a week ago on Corby Avenue, a female, 14, and two males age 17 and 23 were arrested. Detectives are trying to determine if the two shootings are connected.

"If this isn’t a wakeup call for the city of Santa Rosa, I don’t know what is," said Police Chief John Cregan. "It’s important to make sure we’re dedicating our resources to curb some of this gang violence."

Cregan said he has made it his mission to relaunch the gang crimes team, which was disbanded in 2019 amid a staffing crisis. The approach, he said, will be multifaceted focusing on street crimes, early intervention and relationship building.

"We’re not going to arrest our way out of this problem," said Cregan. "It’s important for me to examine what are some of the root causes of the gang violence in our community."

Police say there’s a troubling trend with children as young as 10 involved in gang crimes and an uptick of guns and ghost guns hitting the streets.

While visibility and increasing patrols is a key first step, the police department also plans to work with school systems, community organizations and the Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership to find solutions.

"We need to be able to interrupt violence as it’s happening to help deescalate and mediate the conflicts in our community," said Danielle Garduno, manager of the city’s violence prevention partnership program. "We’ve got to start investing in early intervention and prevention and all the way up to investing in our teens and young adults as well."

The partnership – a collaboration of 50 organizations -- is working on a new strategic plan aimed at addressing contributing factors like poverty, education and access to food and housing. It is looking for ideas and feedback on how to stop the cycle of street violence.

The city has stressed the need for community-wide engagement and is inviting the public to a violence prevention planning meeting Tuesday, June 27 from 6-8 p.m. at Roseland University Prep in Santa Rosa.

"This is all hands on deck," said Garduno. "We need everyone involved to solve this issue."

Brooks Jarosz is an investigative reporter for KTVU. Email him at  brooks.jarosz@fox.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter @BrooksKTVU.