1 dead in Placer County two-car crash that followed Sacramento County shooting
PLACER COUNTY -- Authorities say a crash that left a man dead near the Placer-Sacramento county line was preceded by a shooting.
The crash occurred early Tuesday morning at Walerga Road and PFE Road. Deputies believe the shooting happened before the crash somewhere on the Sacramento County side of the incident.
The two cars were down in an embankment off northbound Walerga with one of them pinned between an electrical pole and a fire hydrant.
"It is a sobering sight," said Jordan Brown, who is a pastor at the church just across the street from the crash scene.
A Mercedes was flipped on its back and a truck was on its side when first responders arrived.
"I don't know if they were shooting from car to car," said Sgt. Amar Gandhi with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
Sgt. Gandhi said the people in the cars knew each other.
A woman was involved in a dispute with a man and a woman who were together. That dispute led to the man and woman chasing the first woman in a vehicle.
At some point during the chase, the man was believed to have fired a gunshot at the woman he was pursuing, authorities said. The chase ended when both vehicles crashed.
Sacramento investigators said it is not believed the gunshot caused the crash as no vehicle or person was hit by a bullet. The man died as a result of the crash. Two guns were recovered at the scene.
Both women were hospitalized with minor injuries. No arrests have been made.
The California Highway Patrol and the Placer County Sheriff's Office are investigating the crash since it happened in the Placer area.
Brown often sees people speeding in the 45-mile-per-hour zone along Walerga.
"We cannot allow our anger to get the best of us and cause us to enter into dangerous situations," said Brown.
Research from Everytown Research & Policy shows that in 2018 there were 70 road rage shooting deaths in the U.S. That number doubled to 141 in 2022.
