San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
ONE DEAD, ANOTHER INJURED IN SHOOTING
Police: Incident stemmed from a dispute at event near Liberty Station
A dispute at a Juneteenth event in Liberty Station led to a shooting that left one person dead and another injured Saturday evening, San Diego police said.
Multiple people reported the gunfire at a park off Cushing Road between Womble and Roosevelt roads about 6:45 p.m. Police initially said the incident happened at a concert.
“This appears to be an isolated incident resulting from a dispute here at the event with one person injured and one person, unfortunately, deceased,” said San Diego police Lt. Adam Sharki.
One person who called 911 said four to five gunshots rang out and that two people were shot, according to police radio traffic. Several hundred people attended the event, officers could be heard saying.
No information about the victims was released, and a suspect description was not immediately available. The shooter was not in custody by 9 p.m. Saturday.
Terell Online, a musician, had been packing up after spending the day selling merchandise at the event and was walking toward his car in the parking lot when he heard gunshots, he said.
“Everybody started running,” the 34-year-old said.
Before the shooting, it had been “just a regular, fun, family day,” he said, with DJS and food.
“It sucks” that it happened at a Juneteenth celebration, he said.
“It’s supposed to be a day of peace and happiness.”
But gun violence has become so routine that “I can’t say I’m shocked,” he said.
Juneteenth, celebrated annually on June 19, marks the day in 1865 when word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the order freeing enslaved Black people in the United States. The holiday’s name is a portmanteau of the words “June” and “nineteenth” and celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.
Myriad events were held across the county Saturday to celebrate the holiday. According to an Instagram post, the Liberty Station event was scheduled to run from noon to 7 p.m. and featured music, vendors, food and games.
Dozens of police officers rushed to the busy commercial district soon soon after the shooting. Police roped off a large section of the park as they investigated, even as people continued to shop and dine at nearby stores and restaurants.
Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call the Police Department or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (888) 580-8477.
“We know there were a lot of people at this event, a lot of people at the park,” Sharki said. “We know people saw something, whether that was a car, a license plate, what led up to this.”
He said investigators are speaking to several witnesses, but the department is looking for more.