After-party shooting near Chico State kills teen girl, wounds 5 others, police say
One teen is dead and five other people were wounded following a house party that was broken up by police near the campus of Chico State University early Saturday morning.
Chico Police Chief Billy Aldridge said a 17-year-old girl was killed and five others were wounded with injuries not considered life-threatening near an apartment complex on the 1000 block of Columbus Avenue, less than a mile west of the campus.
Chico State spokesman Andrew Staples said none of the victims were Chico State students. He said the university is continuing to monitor the situation.
Gayle Hutchinson, Chico State’s president, said if students find themselves in a dangerous situation near campus, the fastest way to get assistance from university police is by calling 530-898-5555.
“I’m encouraged by the compassion you have shown each other in the immediate aftermath of these incidents,” Hutchinson said in a campus-wide email. “Please continue to look out for your friends, classmates and colleagues throughout the weekend.”
Those who were injured, according to Aldridge: a 21-year-old man, 19-year-old man and 17-year-old girl who were all hospitalized and in “stable” condition; another 21-year-old man and an 18-year-old man were treated and discharged from the hospital.
The mass shooting culminated after a night of violence at two house parties off campus.
The first started around midnight at a party at a apartment on the 700 block of West Seventh Street, according to Aldridge. After receiving a call for help at 12:21 a.m., police arrived where witnesses reported several rounds were discharged and a fight had occurred when one of the partygoers was asked to leave.
Officers did not know the name of the subject, but two people in the fight received injuries: One was struck in the head with a firearm and another was hit over the head with a glass bottle. Both injuries required hospitalization but were not life-threatening, Aldridge said.
At 2:59 a.m., police were called to another party several blocks south on Columbus Avenue for a report of a person brandishing a firearm. Aldridge said officers cleared out the party and located a suspect that fit the description given by witnesses on West Seventh.
That suspect, who was not identified, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm and reckless discharge of a firearm, the police chief said.
At 3:26 a.m., another call for help was received by dispatchers for the same location. When officers returned to Columbus Avenue, Aldridge said, they found several gunshot victims, including the 17-year-old girl who died after being driven to a hospital by friends, the Chico Enterprise-Record reported.
The gunman was not at the scene when police arrived and no suspect has been arrested in the mass shooting.
Aldridge said the department would not release additional information Saturday morning but called the incident “isolated,” adding that there was no threat to the community.
“Chico, a small town compared to Sacramento, (is) generally a safe community,” said Chico State’s Staples. “Just like the rest of the nation, we’re not immune to the dangers or the risks of gun violence.”
