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SHOOTINGS SPARK FEAR, CONCERNS

February 27, 2000
Section: NEIGHBORS
Page: N1

By Chris Derr

Neighbors staff writer

--Sacramento County Sheriff's Department representatives responded to concerns about a rash of recent shootings in Rancho Cordova at a Thursday night forum. Since Jan. 19, when 25-year-old Cindy Chung was shot and killed outside her father's auto shop on Croydon Way, a series of shooting incidents have occurred in the community.

Two Asian men, thought to be gang members and victims of retaliation for a shooting in the Arden-Arcade area the previous week, were killed on Feb. 14 at the Keyhole Lounge on Folsom Boulevard. Two other men were wounded in the incident.

Five days later, two men were shot near a Mather Field apartment complex on Laurelhurst Drive in an incident that officers think was related to a domestic dispute. One of the victims, a 31-year-old San Jose man, died from his wounds. Jelani Howard, a 25-year-old Rancho Cordova resident, has since been arrested in connection with the shooting.

On Tuesday, a man was shot in front of a Mills Park Drive apartment complex in what investigators think was a drug-related incident. The victim survived and is recovering.

Sgt. Dan Dailey, who started as a deputy in Rancho Cordova 11 years ago, said that the shootings are not connected and it's a fluke that so many have occurred in a short time.

"Things are better here than in the past," Dailey said. "There used to be shootings and knifings in several neighborhoods on a daily basis."

"All of this tragedy struck at one time," he said. "We couldn't have predicted what's happened in the last month."

Homicide detective Ronald Garverick discussed the background of the recent incidents.

Although investigators think the Keyhole Lounge shooting is connected to a Feb. 12 shooting at the Best Friend restaurant on Fulton Avenue in which one man was shot, Garverick said.

He said that although gang members frequent the bar, they don't live in Rancho Cordova, and the sheriff's department isn't aware of any other Asian gang hangouts in Rancho Cordova.

"My parents live in the community, and they're asking me why, too," Garverick said. "I can't explain why so much has happened in a short time. It's unfortunate that they occurred here, but they're not connected."

East Division Capt. George Anderson told people attending Thursday's meeting that they are no more vulnerable now than before the recent incidents, but it's up to the sheriff's department to ensure more shootings don't occur.

Anderson and Dailey said short-term solutions will include putting more officers in troublesome areas around Croetto Way and Mills Park Drive, including a "high-impact" unit that will step up enforcement pertaining to nuisance crimes and discourage drug activities.

Long-term solutions include better community policing that should occur when the sheriff's department opens a station house n the community later this year, Dailey said. A team effort by federal, state and local agencies will be required, he said, adding that they will need to work with apartment owners and property managers to clean up problem apartment complexes.

John Spencer, a Rancho Cordova resident since 1961, said he sees fewer patrol vehicles and deputies in the community than in the past.

"It seems like uniformed officers have disappeared," he said.

Anderson said that the east-area station house, expected to be in operation by mid-summer, will provide more visibility because deputies no longer will resspond to Rancho Cordova incidents from stations outside the area.

Pedro Hernandez, who, with Bob McGarvey, helped organize the forum to provide the community with information about the spate of shootings and to dispel the notion that the violent crimes represent an ongoing trend in Rancho Cordova.

"We get a bad rap here," Hernandez said. "We're healing for a better tomorrow."

McGarvey said crime seemed to have been down until the recent shootings.

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