3 days ago
Fatal shooting at Sacramento's William Land Park sparks calls for tighter security measures
Neighbors are calling for a park policy change following a fatal shooting at Sacramento's William Land Park. The shooting happened at night when the park is supposed to be closed, but neighbors say that's not always enforced.
The male victim was found shot and killed inside a car on 13th Avenue inside William Land Park early Thursday morning.
"It's shocking. It's not what we want to experience in any of our parks in Sacramento," said Kristina Rogers, president of the Land Park Community Association.
Rogers said that the park has many family-friendly attractions, including the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town.
"It happened in a very quiet neighborhood part of the park, right next to a children's playground," she said. "That's really hard for us to accept."
Rogers' neighborhood organization has been asking the city to change its park security policy for years. The park closes to the public at sunset, but she said the metal gates that prevent cars from driving through are not closed and the public bathroom near the shooting scene is not locked after hours.
"When you have open gates and open bathrooms at night when the park is closed, that seems to be the time when a lot of the criminal behavior starts to show up," she said.
Jeff Strenk lives across from the crime scene and wants the nighttime park closure to be enforced.
"If there were to be locked at night, I think that would go a long way towards improving security," Strenk said.
Now, following this violent crime, it appears there is a change coming.
A representative in City Councilmember Rick Jenning's office said that the park bathrooms will now be locked at sundown. We broke the news to Strenk.
"That's awesome," he said. "I think that's a great idea, a great decision and probably long overdue."
Sacramento police say no arrests have been made in connection with this shooting, and the name of the victim has not yet been released.
