Davis, CA — A festive day in Davis took a violent turn Saturday afternoon when three people were shot at Community Park amid a large gathering for Picnic Day. The victims—two teenagers and a 24-year-old adult—were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Davis Police Department spokesperson Lt. Dan Beckwith.
The Vanguard spoke with Beckwith late on Saturday, but there was no update. He indicated that they were in the process of reviewing videos and talking to witnesses, but that there were at this time no suspects and the victims were recovering with “non-life threatening injuries.”
The shooting occurred shortly before 3:00 p.m., just as officers on patrol in the area heard multiple gunshots coming from within the park. Police were already deployed in larger-than-usual numbers as part of the city’s Picnic Day mutual aid strategy. Responding officers and emergency personnel quickly located the victims and secured the area.
“There had been a large gathering of people there prior to the shooting,” Lt. Beckwith said at a press conference Saturday evening. “Officers responded into the park and located three victims of gunshot wounds. They were all treated on scene by medical personnel and transported to the hospital.”
Police confirmed that the victims included two juvenile teens—one from Davis, the other from Sacramento—and one 24-year-old adult whose gender and hometown were not disclosed. The police have not confirmed whether any of the individuals are affiliated with UC Davis or local schools.
As of publication, no suspect has been identified or apprehended. Lt. Beckwith described the investigation as in its early stages, saying investigators are sorting through a “firehose of information” from witnesses and community members.
“We’re getting a lot of conflicting information,” Beckwith said. “Our detectives and our officers are out there trying to find a congruent indication of what actually happened and who was involved.”
Officers remained at the park into the evening processing the scene. Beckwith declined to speculate on whether the shooting involved multiple assailants, or whether the incident stemmed from an altercation within the gathering.
Although initial rumors suggested someone may have been trampled during the chaos, police said no such injury has been confirmed.
The shooting shook residents, especially given its proximity to a Little League field and children’s play area.
Mayor Bapu Vaitla addressed the incident in a public Facebook post, noting that all three victims were receiving care and that the Police Department was working to reconcile hundreds of tips. He confirmed there were no shelter-in-place orders and said DPD had increased patrols to reassure the public.
“The Davis Police Department is patrolling Davis with increased staffing to keep the community safe,” Vaitla wrote. “There are no shelter-in-place orders in effect.”
Lt. Beckwith echoed that message, emphasizing that, while the suspect remained at large, police do not believe there is an active threat to the community.
“This is really an uncommon event for us,” Beckwith said. “In my 18 years, we’ve never had anything like this. We believe this event is still very family-friendly and safe for folks to go out and have a good time.”
The shooting occurred during a permitted event at Community Park, one of several gatherings held across Davis for Picnic Day. While police confirmed that the event organizers had previously held peaceful gatherings without incident, it remains unclear whether the shooter was part of the permitted group or simply present in the area.
Some community members questioned why a large-scale event was permitted so close to the Little League fields. Lt. Beckwith responded that the event went through the city’s standard permit process and had no known safety concerns at the time.
“We don’t allow permits for things that aren’t perceived to be safe,” he said. “This was an event for people to gather and celebrate Picnic Day.”
Police say they are continuing to process the large crime scene and will be seeking assistance from the public, particularly from those who may have photos or videos from the area during the time of the shooting.
“We’ll be requesting assistance from the public for people who may have been videotaping or may have seen something,” Beckwith said. “This is a lengthy follow-up investigation to really get to the bottom of it.”
There is no official timeline for when more information—including a suspect description—will be released.
As Davis continues to process the events of Saturday, city officials are urging calm and encouraging anyone with information to contact the Davis Police Department.
“The shooting occurred shortly before 3:00 p.m., just as officers on patrol in the area heard multiple gunshots coming from within the park.”
What an amazing coincidence! What are the odds that the shooting would have occurred at the *same time* that officers heard gunshots?
Somebody on one of the Neighborhood NextDoor pages was recently complaining about Picnic Day (and the related fights, drunkenness, etc. He did not receive a positive response from other commenters.
Ironically, he also said something about “hoping” there were no stabbings, at least. (I guess he should have hoped for no guns, as well.)
I was going to say something about people blocking the streets and getting into fights with undercover cops (while later being found with ammunition in their possession), but I decided not to.
This could have happened at any time
Don’t know if the case here, but there does need to be awareness of when the atmosphere of an event or sub-event is getting sketch.
Before the rape at a campus event years ago, organizers recognized the sub-event it occurred near was getting out of control. Same before the shooting at a campus event years ago that ended up in that event being severely altered. Before the Ket-Mo-Murder downtown, business owners and observers recognized that the atmosphere downtown was getting out of control. One business shut down their nightclub events because employees were threatened and unable to control the ever-more-out-of-control crowds. I warned the City Council over a year in advance of just how scary downtown was becoming 10:30-2:30 on Thu-Sat and they needed to reign it in.
Thank you for all of your time and energy to cover this story.