Suspect in custody after threat against California state Capitol, shooting in Roseville
A manhunt ended Thursday afternoon for a Bay Area man accused of committing shootings Wednesday night in Roseville and Citrus Heights and making threats that prompted the shutdown of the California Capitol building in downtown Sacramento.
Jackson Pinney, 30, of Hayward was found shortly after 4 p.m. and taken into custody at the intersection of Douglas Boulevard and Auburn-Folsom Road in Granite Bay, about 4½ miles from the Roseville hospital he allegedly shot at Wednesday night. Police said nobody was struck by gunfire in Wednesday’s shootings.
Police said Pinney faces an array of charges including attempted homicide, assault with a firearm, shooting from a moving vehicle, shooting an inhabited dwelling and being a felon in possession of a gun, the Roseville Police Department announced in a news release.
He will be booked at the Placer County Jail.
“We would like to thank the U.S. Marshal’s Office and the Placer County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance,” police said. “The investigation is ongoing and no new information will be released at this time.”
The search for the suspect began after police received a call about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday. Citrus Heights officers were informed that someone called from inside a business asking for police to respond to investigate a murder; then the phone call was disconnected.
Witnesses at the Citrus Heights business told officers the caller drove away in a gold-colored truck and fired several rounds as he left the parking lot, the Citrus Heights Police Department announced about 11:30 a.m. Thursday in a news release. Nobody was hit by that gunfire.
Within a few minutes, Citrus Heights police received reports of another shooting from a truck near Auburn Boulevard and Twin Oaks Avenue, just north of the first shooting location. Police said several bullets struck a business and a detached structure in the second shooting.
Several minutes later, officers determined that the suspect in both Citrus Heights shootings was in a 2002 gold-colored Ford F-150 with standard-cab pickup with a black soft tonneau cover, according to the Police Department.
Police said the gold pickup is registered to Pinney, who is a resident of Hayward, and Pinney’s Department of Motor Vehicles photograph matched the description of the suspect provided by witnesses.
It was unclear whether Pinney was found in the pickup or in an Acura Integra police said was also associated with him.
Pinney allegedly drove away from the second Citrus Heights shooting location north on Auburn Boulevard toward Roseville and continued to fire gunshots from his vehicle in the minutes that followed, police said.
Roseville police officers were notified about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday that a suspect driving through Citrus Heights shooting from his vehicle. About 10 minutes later, Roseville officers responded to a shots-fired call in the area of Douglas and Sunrise boulevards matching the description of the suspect vehicle.
Shortly after, Roseville officers received a call reporting shots were fired from a vehicle in the area of Eureka Road and Douglas Boulevard near the hospital, Roseville police said. The suspect was reportedly firing a gun while driving out of the parking lot.
Officers arrived and determined that two bullets struck the exterior of the building at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, but nobody was hit or injured, police said. Authorities placed a lockdown at the hospital which was later lifted. Police said the bullets did not enter the building.
“At this time, we believe this suspect may also be related to an incident at the State Capitol,” Roseville police said earlier on Thursday.
California Highway Patrol officials said they learned that the suspect in the non-injury shootings Roseville and Citrus Heights Wednesday also made credible threats against the state Capitol.
The state Capitol building was evacuated for several minutes Thursday morning due to reported “credible threats”, the CHP said. By 10:30 a.m., however, movement around the Capitol carried on as normal. But the Capitol building was temporarily closed by Thursday afternoon.
