3 shot at Davis' Community Park as crowds gather in city for Picnic Day
DAVIS – Three people were shot at Davis' Community Park on Saturday as crowds gathered in the city for Picnic Day, police said.
The Davis Police Department said the victims were taken to the hospital with what they believe are non-life-threatening injuries.
Two of the victims are juvenile teenagers and the third is a 24-year-old woman, police said.
No information about a suspect is known at this time. Police said they don't believe there is any ongoing threat to the community but extra officers remained on duty throughout the night.
Police said the first report of the shooting came in around 3 p.m. at Community Park, located near W. Covell Boulevard between F Street and Oak Avenue.
The park was cleared and police remained at the scene through the evening to collect evidence.
The City of Davis said in a statement that early information indicates that the shooting "was not motivated by a desire to randomly harm community members."
The police department said it had a large number of police officers in town from neighboring agencies as standard protocol for Picnic Day.
Picnic Day is a family-friendly, student-run event by the University of California, Davis with more than 70,000 people who attend every year, according to the school's website.
UC Davis hosts several events on campus, saying the day "showcases the richness of diversity and achievement at UC Davis and the surrounding community in the areas of research, teaching, service, and campus life."
Community members will host their own Picnic Day events off-campus, such as the large gathering at the park, located no more than two miles from the UC Davis campus, where the shooting took place.
"This is really an uncommon event for us, this particular situation," said Lt. Dan Beckwith, a Davis Police Department spokesperson. "In my 18 years here, we have never had anything like this. It's supposed to be a fun event for families, and I think it still is. This is the one-off."
The Davis Police Department enacted a safety enhancement zone Friday evening, which includes Community Park. This doubled the fines for violations of the city's open container, noise, smoking and public urination ordinances. It expired Sunday evening.
The UC Davis fraternity Sigma had been advertising a block party happening at Community Park, just on the other side of a playground where the crime scene was. A now-deleted Instagram story from the account also gave a PSA Saturday morning, asking people not to bring any conflicts or disputes to Picnic Day.
CBS News Sacramento sent the post to Davis police, who could only confirm a group was permitted to be there but could not say which group it was.
"The UC Davis community is saddened by the news that individuals enjoying a day at Community Park in Davis were injured in a shooting Saturday afternoon. That the incident occurred as thousands of people were enjoying the university's annual student-led Picnic Day on campus, is even more disheartening. The on-campus festivities were winding down when news broke about the shooting," UC Davis said in a statement.
The university said it's checking with students to determine if any of them who were at the park need support.
