See the weapons seized as Sacramento law enforcement agencies crack down on gangs in sweep

Sacramento law enforcement officials concluded a sweep targeting gang members and weapons early Wednesday, arresting 26 suspects and seizing 23 firearms, including six assault weapons, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in separate announcements.

Schubert’s office said the sweep is part of a six-month effort dubbed Operation Sleepwalker that is aimed at reducing homicide rates and removing guns from Sacramento-area streets that include many purchased with funds from phony unemployment claims that proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our own internal county statistics show increases of more than 30% in the homicide rate and 40% in the rate of non-fatal shootings,” Schubert said in a statement announcing the arrests. “The influx of billions of dollars in EDD fraud into the hands of criminals resulted in a drastic increase in the number of illegal firearms and firearm-related violence in our communities.

“We will continue to investigate violent crime and assist law enforcement in their endless efforts to stem the tide of violent crime. I am also proud of the attorneys in my office who reviewed more than 100 search warrants and court orders leading to today’s take down. This was a large scale undertaking by my office involving hundreds of hours of warrant reviews and legal assistance.”

Bonta’s office released a separate announcement saying the investigation targeted the Oak Park Bloods gang and that over the course of it more than 125 firearms were seized, including six assault weapons, four of them untraceable ghost guns.

“For families, nothing is more important than having the peace of mind to know that the neighborhood our children play in and the community where we live and work is safe,” Bonta said in a statement. “Today’s operation is one step toward healing the Sacramento community from the ills of gun violence.

Schubert is running as an independent candidate in an effort to oust Bonta, a Democrat appointed to the AG’s post by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year.

Schubert’s office said Sacramento police, the FBI, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the state Department of Justice and California Highway Patrol joined with Sacramento sheriff’s deputies and other area agencies to conduct the effort.

Schubert’s office previously has focused on Employment Development Department fraud and the use of phony unemployment claims to purchase weapons in the region, a factor she contends has led to an increase in violent crime.

This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 1:03 PM.