'Guns Down, Gloves Up': Anti-Gun Boxing Event Turns Deadly In North Sacramento
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A boxing event that happened in North Sacramento on Saturday night was meant to be a family-friendly affair but it ended in gunfire and a deadly situation.
"Everybody was in there to watch their kids that they going to box every day," Jacques Houston, who hosted the Guns Down Gloves Up event, said. "Guns down, gloves up, you know, that's what we were trying to promote."
Houston said he doesn't know what happened after he asked a guest to leave.
"I see him. I try to talk to him. I notice he's too drunk and I just tell him, 'Go.' The people he was with or I thought he was walked him out," Houston said. "And, what they did with after that, I don't know."
The Sacramento Police Department said the responding officers arrived at the event on Juliesse Avenue on Saturday for reports of cars driving recklessly in the area. The officers then saw a large crowd of people leaving the warehouse area.
After being told there was someone with a gun then hearing multiple gunshots, the officer ran toward the commotion. They confronted an armed suspect pointing a gun towards a crowd of people inside the building.
The officer shot the suspect, who suffered life-threatening injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
"Somebody made a poor decision. The police did their job. Everything after that just makes what we're doing looking bad because we're trying to make a change for our youth," Cisco Ragsdale, a local boxing coach and an organizer for the boxing event, said. "It's unfortunate, the situation at hand, that, you know, somebody lost their life."
For those involved, it's a frustrating, ironic and unfortunate situation as they hope to prevent violence from happening in their community.
"I feel like that wasn't supposed to be displayed at the event. I feel like we could've done better as a city and as a community," Houston said. "Yeah, it's ironic, but we can't let that stop our youth from trying to be bigger than their situation."
While canvassing the area, Sacramento police also found another shooting victim who had non-life-threatening injuries. They were taken to the hospital.
It's unclear at this time when that victim was shot.