Woman killed after son opens fire at Foothill Farms senior complex, Sacramento deputies say
One woman is dead after her son opened fire inside a senior living apartment complex Tuesday in the Foothill Farms section of northeast Sacramento County, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman was pronounced dead just around 6 p.m. from a gunshot wound from the shooting suspect, authorities said.
Her son, the suspect, was taken to a hospital with what appeared to be a “superficial wound,” according to sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Rodney Grassmann. Police radio traffic indicated the suspect, who was wearing a bulletproof vest when deputies reached him, was taken to Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael with a gunshot wound.
The suspect, who was not identified, was arrested, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Grassmann said it was unclear whether the man’s wound was received from a deputy at the scene, “if it was self-inflicted, if something else had gone on.”
According to Grassmann, deputies were first called to the apartment on the 5400 block of Auburn Boulevard around 5 p.m. for a reported disturbance. Two family members in the dispute told deputies they were fine, didn’t need help and sent the deputies away, he said.
About 20 minutes later, another family member called the Sheriff’s Office to report the two people involved in a disturbance were embroiled in a dispute again, Grassmann said. When deputies arrived at apartment a second time, they could hear a disturbance inside the apartment and approached the home’s door.
At some point, and Grassmann said it was still unclear exactly when, shots were fired. He said investigators believe those shots were fired at deputies, perhaps through the door. Deputies returned fire as the suspect fired shots at them, Grassmann said.
The suspect and his mother were the only people inside the apartment when the shooting occurred, Grassmann said. The mother was pronounced dead by medics. He said no deputies were hit by gunfire, and there were no other reported injuries.
The shootout with the suspect was brief, Grassmann said, but it was followed by a standoff that lasted about 20 to 30 minutes. He said the suspect dropped his gun, which gave negotiators time to convince him to come out and surrender without further incident.
The shooting took place at the Foothill Farms Senior Apartments across the street from the Slavic Trinity Church and a comic book store. Another side of the apartment complex is a few yards west of the Sheriff’s Office’s north substation on Garfield Avenue.
The situation came hours after a police chase in the Arden Arcade area and subsequent shootout killed a sheriff’s deputy and K9 officer at Cal Expo. Another shooting involving deputies on Friday night in Carmichael injured a member of the Sheriff’s Office gang suppression unit and killed a man at an apartment complex less than two miles from Tuesday’s incident.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 6:16 PM.
