1 Dead, 1 Hurt After Sacramento Apartment Complex Security Guard Reports Shooting At Armed Suspects

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — One person has died and another was hurt after a security guard at a Sacramento apartment complex reported shooting at two suspects he said were armed early Thursday morning.

Sacramento police say, around 3:30 a.m., they got a report that a security guard at a complex along the 2900 block of Ramona Avenue had shot at two subjects who appeared to be armed with a gun. The guard was patrolling the complex at the time of the shooting.

The shooting happened at The Crossings apartments an off-campus student housing complex near Sacramento State.

"It's kind of scary because no alert or anything went to no-one's phone to see what was going on," said resident Jana Alexander.

Another resident got an email from the apartment complex informing them of police activity in the area but did not inform residents of a shooting.

"The email just said that there was something that happened on the property, they didn't give any detail of what had happened," explained Jerome Provilous.

The subjects left the area, but officers say two people with gunshot wounds showed up at the hospital. One of those people, a man, was later pronounced dead.

Police say the second person suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Detectives now believe those two people who showed up at the hospital with gunshot wounds are related to the shooting at the Ramona Avenue apartment complex.

A family member of one of the two men involved who did not want to go on camera says the teens are around 19-years-old and claims they were not armed. Instead, family claims the two were playing games on their cell phones.

"I'm 100% sure [the security guard] did it because he was afraid for his life," said resident Imelda Martinez.

Martinez was awake and heard the gunshots. She also knows the officer who fired his weapon.

"He is very nice, he is always checking up on us," she said. "He sees something suspicious, he is quick to go investigate."

Police have responded to the apartment complex at least three times in the past few weeks for crimes. In July, officers responded to reports of a robbery and on a separate occasion an assault where the suspect was armed.

On August 7, police responded to the complex again for a felony assault where two suspects attacked a man. Martinez witnessed that incident as well and said those men were armed with military-grade assault rifles while wearing black ski masks.

"They were pointing both guns to him and then he was in the fetal position on the ground. As soon as I seen that, we went back into my unit and called 9-1-1," she explained.

According to Sacramento police, no arrests have been made in the August 7 assault.

Martinez said after bringing up several concerns with the apartment's management, she is now looking to break her lease and find a new place to live.

"I live here with my 10-year-old, I don't feel like walking out, I'm scared to come home. It's not right. We need to feel safe in our homes and they are not doing their jobs," she said.

The exact circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation.

Notably, the same apartment complex was the scene of a 2020 officer-involved shooting that left a suspect dead.