Back-to-back shootings at Sacramento housing complex prompt more security. Residents still on edge

For Upper Land Park neighborhood resident Richard Spivey, two shootings in three days a few feet away from his red-brick home deprived him of freedom.

That’s because the incidents this month eroded his ability to causally talk with neighbors and breathe in fresh air, he said. A man was shot and killed Sept. 15 and two women were wounded Sept. 18 outside the complex, not far from sidewalks decorated with faded children’s chalk.

“I have grandchildren that come over and play,” Spivey, 61, said from outside his apartment in the Alder Grove public housing complex. “So, I don’t allow them to come over. It’s uncomfortable. It’s really not good at all.”

No arrests have been made in either shooting at the housing formerly known as New Helvetia, the Sacramento Police Department said.

Officers said both investigations remain active. But area residents said the violence is a normal part of life.

‘I don’t want to die here’

Joann Roberson has lived at the complex operated by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency for 11 years.

And the violence has just gotten worse, she said. She’s heard a person getting shot just outside her home and theorized changes to security by property management allowed the danger to increase.

“I don’t want to die here,” Roberson said, while noting bullets don’t always reach their intended target. She worries about her safety even though she said she’s not a target for gunfire.

SHRA, a joint powers agency between the city and county, said in a statement it is committed to providing a safe environment for residents and have increased private security patrols within Alder Grove. It also said additional “safety measures” would be implemented. Counseling will be available for residents, the statement said.

“We are deeply saddened by the recent acts of violence and loss of life at the Alder Grove community,” the statement read.

Complex residents said police responding to the incident after a shooting often come too late.

Tenant Jason Hooper recalled a time when police had a station placed on its complex, and conducted more patrols. He said he also wished for more private security patrols to help keep his family safe.

Sacramento police said the department had a substation on the property, which was provided by complex management between 1991 and 1999. Officers pointed to departmental newsletters from the time that said police officers used “proactive enforcement, youth outreach and community partnerships” to reduce crime by 64% in the New Helvetia and River Oaks neighborhoods.

The department said they currently have a violent crime reduction strategy and problem-oriented policing team overseeing the area.

Hooper, 40, lived at Alder Grove as a child with his mother and now lives there with his own two children. He recalled a time when he took his family out to get pizza and ice cream but returned to his streets blocked off by yellow tape.

Gunshots cause neighbors to hole up in their homes and mind their own business, residents added. It mars any sense of community, they said.

“I don’t know how you break the cycle ’cause it’s going to keep coming,” Hooper said.

Nearby, a girl with her black hair in pigtails pounded on her mint green and bright red scooter. A wooden swing set perched on a front lawn and a mother carrying a baby walked by.

Something has to be done, Hooper said.

“I just don’t know what,” he added.