Santa Rosa police have arrested a 19-year-old in a suspected gang-related shooting outside the city's Cinco de Mayo Festival, injuring one man and raising renewed concerns about youth gang violence.
Thursday, May 7, 2026 3:31PMSanta Rosa police have made an arrest in a suspected gang-related shooting that occurred outside the city's Cinco de Mayo Festival, injuring one man and raising renewed concerns about gang violence and community safety.
The shooting happened Tuesday night near the Roseland Cinco de Mayo Festival, where thousands of people had gathered to celebrate. Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan said the violence followed an exchange of gang challenges between two groups.
"But this shows the extreme danger of the gang violence here. Gang challenges were shouted back and forth on both sides of the party with it, and then suddenly one young man pulled out a firearm and started firing indiscriminately," Cregan said. Police said one man was struck by a bullet in his upper body and is expected to be OK. Another bullet hit a taco stand, landing just feet from where the operator was standing.
Cregan said a 19-year-old suspect was later arrested in connection with the shooting. He stressed, however, that enforcement alone will not end gang violence in the city.
"I don't believe we're going to arrest our way out of the gang problem," Cregan said. "How can we work together to have after-school activities, have other, more meaningful things for kids to be doing to help prevent them from ever getting in this case? Because last night, you saw two sides greatly infected.
You have one young man who now has a bullet hole in him, and you have another one who's going to be going to prison for years with it.
"Adam Peacocke, who runs the FeatherVine ministry and is involved with the Santa Rosa Violence Prevention Partnership, said mentoring is a key focus of the group's work with police, intervention specialists and faith leaders. "There were people, maybe, and sometimes that don't necessarily speak the same language you do, or look exactly like you do, who care about you, who you can develop a relationship with, and so we've really looked at those mentoring relationships," Peacocke said.
Other leaders questioned whether people attending large community festivals feel comfortable contacting police during emergencies.
"Who would feel comfortable calling law enforcement at a Cinco de Mayo event, knowing that there are almost certainly people there who don't have their immigration papers in order, right? Even if they saw something that might be potentially alarming, or they might think, you know, could be dangerous," Bell-Kerr said. Cregan said police are seeing girls and boys join gangs as young as 12 and 13 in Santa Rosa and urged parents to stay involved.
"Be having the conversations with your daughters, with your son, about talking about pressures of being involved in gangs, taking a look, whether it be looking at their social media, looking at their phones," he said. Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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