ANTIOCH – Antioch’s top cop on Tuesday announced plans to put an end to a recent surge in gun violence.
The city has recorded 11 shootings since Sept. 2, when 21-year-old Elijah Scales was gunned down in the 2100 block of Peppertree Way, the Antioch Police Department said in a statement. Eight of the shootings have happened in the past five days.
Interim Police Chief Brian Addington said he has rearranged staffing and assigned two officers to patrol the Sycamore Drive corridor for at least the next seven days.
“This effort aims to reduce gun violence and provide a sense of safety to the community and local businesses,” he said. “This spate of violence will not be tolerated.”
The shootings may be related to Scales’ death, police said.
The first of the 11 shootings happened around 7:25 p.m. on Sept. 3 in the 2100 block of Peppertree Way. At least 32 rounds were fired, leaving a 31-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his leg, police said.
The following day, another shooting happened around 9 p.m. in the same block of Peppertree Way. No one was injured, but a nearby building was hit by the gunfire.
The third shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 at Sycamore Drive and Peppertree Way. Police said a 52-year-old woman was hit in the leg while in the parking lot of Sycamore Square.
The fourth, fifth and sixth shootings happened on Sept. 12. The first was reported around 8:20 p.m. in the 2100 block of Lemontree Way, the second around 8:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Fitzuren Road and the third around 8:30 p.m. in the 2900 block of Pear Street.
A resident was grazed by a stray bullet in the shooting on Lemontree Way, police said.
The seventh shooting happened around 9:10 p.m. Sunday at Sycamore Drive and Peppertree Way. No one was injured, but a nearby home and vehicle were hit by the gunfire.
The last four shootings happened Monday, police said. The first was reported around 2:40 a.m. in the 600 block of G Street, the second just before 5 p.m. at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, the third around 7:45 p.m. at L Street and William Reed Drive and the fourth around 7:50 p.m. in the 1800 block of Cavallo Road.
A man suffered life-threatening injuries in the shooting at the fairgrounds, police said.
The shooting on Cavallo Road also left a 58-year-old man in critical condition. He was attending a memorial for Scales when at least four shots were fired, police said.
Anyone with information related to the shootings can contact Detective Sgt. Bill Whitaker at 925-779-6876 or wwhitaker@antiochca.gov.
Check back for updates.