Illegal Cockfights End In Gunshots

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Residents at the Vineyard Point Apartments on Diamond Ranch Drive in Sacramento are still talking about the gunfire and screams for help Friday night.

Investigators say it started across the street from the apartments during an illegal cockfighting operation.

"It's very much a sport to some people and there's a lot of money wagered," said Ruben Hernandez, Animal Control.

Numerous people were betting on more than a hundred roosters, watching them fight to the death.

"There's gambling going on and if someone looses a lot of money it can turn violent," said Hernandez.

And apparently it did get violent when bullets and fists started to fly. One assault victim ran across the street to the apartment complex screaming he'd been shot.

He tried many apartment doors until Andry Karpach opened his door.

"He ran up [the stairs] and he ran in my house saying call 911. He says 'I'm dying. I feel like I'm dying.' So I called 911," said Karpach.

The victim survived but was severely hurt.

"A bullet went through his head," said Karpach.

That victim survived, but later deputies found a second victim shot to death at the cockfighting ring location. He took a bullet to the chest.

This is the second cockfighting ring discovered recently. Last weekend at another location in the county, animal control found two-thousand roosters primed and ready to fight.

"There is, believe or not, a season for cockfighting and this is the season for it," said Hernandez.