16-Year-Old Arrested In Rohnert Park House Party Shooting
ROHNERT PARK (CBS SF) – A 16-year-old Santa Rosa boy and known gang member has been arrested after he allegedly shot an 18-year-old man during a robbery at a party in Rohnert Park on Saturday night, according to police.
The suspect - who wasn't identified due to his age - allegedly shot the victim while trying to rob a backpack at the party in the 5000 block of Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety police officials said.
As the victim attempted to stop the theft, the suspect shot him in the leg, police said. The suspects then fled the scene and the victim went to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
Officers spoke to the victim at the hospital, police said, who told them he believed the suspect to be a known gang member from Santa Rosa, and provided investigators with his street name.
Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa police then worked to confirm the suspect's identity with the victim. Santa Rosa police later found the suspect sitting in a car in Santa Rosa with a loaded handgun in the vehicle at 9:49 p.m. Sunday.
Santa Rosa police transported the suspect back to Rohnert Park, where it was determined the handgun found in the car matched the one the victim claims he was shot with, police said.
The suspect is being held at Sonoma County Juvenile Hall on counts of assault with a firearm and robbery in the alleged Rohnert Park robbery, and on counts of possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm/ammunition and providing false identification while being detained by police in Santa Rosa.
Rohnert Park police are also trying to identify the other suspects who were at the party with the shooting suspect, as well as other people who may have been at the party. Anyone with any information on the case is asked to call police at (707) 584-2630 or rpdpsinvestigations@rpcity.org.