News

Sacramento area sports crowd holds suspect after killing

News Source: www.sacbee.com

Spectators at a large Sikh sports festival in south Sacramento County pummeled a gunman in the crowd with field hockey sticks and cricket bats Sunday after he fatally shot a young man and injured another, sheriff's deputies said.

The brazen shootings occurred at approximately 1:20 p.m. as the victims watched games at the Sacramento Sikh Society Sports Complex in the 7600 block of Bradshaw Road, not far from the Sikh temple, or Gurdwara Sahib, deputies said.

Detectives said they did not know the specific motive for the shootings, but said the assault did not appear to be related to any conflict over the games. The gunman and an accomplice who fled the scene apparently had some ongoing dispute and planned to find their targets at the event, they said.

"We believe the victims were targeted, and the suspects knew the victims were here," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said.

The county Coroner's Office identified the dead man as Parmjit Pamma Singh, 26, of the East Bay community of Bay Point, near Pittsburg. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other victim, identified only as a 38-year-old man, was sent to UC Davis Medical Center in serious condition, officials said.

The shootings prompted several nearby spectators to turn on the assailants with the sports equipment at hand. One suspect got away while the other was beaten and held by spectators until deputies arrived, Curran said.

"The crowd was armed with cricket bats and field hockey sticks. They didn't hold back in telling us that they hit him," Curran said.

That suspect is being treated for "multiple contusions" at the medical center, Curran said. Deputies said they would not release his name until he was booked into jail.

The Sheriff's Department issued a press release Sunday night asking the public's help in finding a 24-year-old Elk Grove man whom several witnesses saw leaving the scene shortly after the shooting. The release identified the man as Amandeep Singh Dhami and described him as East Indian, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 200 pounds.

Detectives said Dhami "may have information vital to the case and we would like to speak to him."

Organizers aborted the tournament, and deputies cordoned the playing fields and held hundreds of spectators at the complex parking lot until they could talk to them. The vehicle-by-vehicle interviews lasted more than four hours.

Deputies recovered two handguns but found few witnesses to the shootings.

Most in the crowd at the time were attending youth field hockey games and a footrace at other fields in the complex.

"At first we thought it was the pistol to start the race, but then we heard more shots," said Herinder Singh of Hayward, whose son played in the hockey games.

Hundreds of people from the Sacramento Valley, the Bay Area, Arizona and western Canada attended the event, called the Gurmukh Singh Johal Memorial Tournament.

Anyone with information on the shootings or whereabouts of Dhami is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115, or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Sikh?

Very sad to see sikhs behaving as such in gurdwara where main purpose should be to sing Vahegurujio's Gurbani shabads, embrace the words, and act on them if we would like to call ourselves sikhs! What the California gurdwaras, that practice violence instead of prayers, desperately are in urgent need of is the translation of kirtan and prayers in English, as they are being conducted so all who attend gurdwara could realise what a big dishonor they are doing by their behavior (and totally unlike sikh attire) in presence of Gurbani in gurdwaras, behaving totally against Sikh maryada, and yet calling themselves sikhs? Sab Sikhan Ko Hukam Hai Guru Manio Granthji!

raj put

your comment is so poorly written, it takes about five tries to make out what your trying to say. Secondly your racist comments speak volumes about your character and voids any valid point you may have had in your post even though i failed to point one out. How much security is needed at the Gurduwara? It was an unfortunate event and show some respect for the family who lost a loved one. No cares if you dont feel sorry for them, we dont need your negativity or false accusations about the suspects/victims wives. Our community is portrayed poorly in Bollywood because its mostly hindus directing these films, and Sikhnet actually had a great article on our image in bollywood films but you probably didnt read it. Its a shame the discussions going on at such a low point in our culture.

education vs leisure

Mr. kaabzaub has a point. when we want to party then we celebrate with pomp and circumstance. but when it comes to education we do very little. that's why even in our bollywood movies we're made to look like "jolly, illiterate" people. Most recent example "Singh is King." As a business owner i wouldn't want to give money to these people. the people who decided to not give Mr. kaabzaub money was right and i wouldn't want people to come mess up my store. when black people come to my store, i never give them money because they are so ghetto, they probably use it to do stupid stuff only. on tv, the news were reporting that those people in charge didn't even hire enough security for the grounds and the newspaper reported that so many people from all over the place came and were expecting a large crowd. the guy that appeared on the news looked like he didn't know what he was doing saying we weren't expecthing this. i was there at the grounds, just silly looking old or shafty looking security people. i only feel sorry for the guy who was innocently shot. But for the other two guys who had it in for each other. people are saying that they were once friends, they had a fall out, something about they use to fight and then drugs. who knows one guy was probably having an affair with the other guy's wife.

We are a local Indian

We are a local Indian Educational Group attempting to provide Indian educational information and scholarships to the young Indian community. We worked very hard to get sponsors and secure a facility for the educational event. Due to the recent shooting which occurred at the Sikh Sports Tournament held at the Sacramento Sikh Society Gurdwara on Bradshaw in Sacramento, all of our sponsors and the facility have withdrawn from our event. They stated “that the Indian community is unsafe and irresponsible. We do not want to run the risk of losing our investments and facility therefore we are being selective of the people we bring in.” As well as when the crowd of spectators caught one of the suspects and then started “violently assaulting the suspect with sports equipment. How unruly and chaotic the Indian mob is when they use violence to solve violence.” The sponsors and facility owners also referred to a recent drug bust in the Indian community (even though this person was identified as Sikh Punjabi) as another example of “bad behavior of the Indian community.” It is difficult to get sponsorship from the Indian community. Of all the Indian shops, merchants, business owners, Gudwaras, Temples, and multi-millionaires we spoke with, none were interested in sponsoring an educational event. Very few Indian people were willing to return phone calls or speak to us about using their money to sponsor an educational event. But to say the least, a party or sports event, then the community is willing to run the risk of gaining a bad reputation. The publicity in which the Sikh Punjabi population have obtained is an appalling example in which is then reflected upon the rest of the Indian community. As people tend to clump one crowd of people together and use prejudice. Especially, when sponsors and facility owners do not know the difference between Punjabi and Indian. Even after explaining the difference, they still just say “Indian”. With this, we want to share that it is a tragedy in which the Indian community have to face. This is unfair for us, those who are honestly devoting effort to improve and promote the positives of the Indian community. We are disappointed to have shown such dedication and effort in an educational event to achieve nothing due to these unfortunate circumstances.

to kaabzaub

Although it is unfortunate that your educational plans were put on hold, the more unfortunate part is your post. I am disgusted beyond belief. Not once did you mention the violence that has been taking place in our Gurduwara's or within our youth. Not once did you show sympathy for the families or people effected by Sundays shootings. Yet you took the time out to complain about how your plans were ruined and how people perceive us. How does one base his or her judgment on a society as a whole from one incident and the actions of a couple of people? You should be looking in a forward direction trying to get your plan in motion with new sponsors and a new facility and be glad to rid of such prejudice associates. How many different culture groups that have a greater population have to face obstacles of being "clumped together"? would the same sponsors and facility owner withdraw if the minority group was African American? or Hispanic? I can guarantee they would not. So perhaps you should try to educate them before you complain about your loss of opportunity to educate. I personally witnessed Sundays tragedy as i was participating in the games while this happened. I have read numerous articles on this occurrence and people are praising our culture for going after the killer, labeling us as a "brave" and "courageous" culture. Yet you point out one negative view point? What else was the mob to do? let both shooters get away? the shooter was running through field attempting to get away. Ask your sponsors if their family/friend got shot and they apprehended the shooter would they calmly hold him until the police arrived? They Admitted to the police of roughing up the suspect and the police took no action. So perhaps you need to get your values corrected and perhaps educate yourself before you attempt to educate others. Violence at our Temples is a reoccurring theme, and we need to find ways to prevent it while allowing our youth to safely participate in positive events. Once again, it is unfortunate that your sponsors bailed on you, but the right approach would be to express anger towards the discrimination you have faced from these sponsors and facility owner(s). There are plenty of people in the Indian community who are willing to sponsor for any type of good cause whether it be educational or leisure purposes. Perhaps you have not tried hard enough. And this is a huge blow and heart break for our community, and although i do believe your doing a great service, i find your post very selfish and disrespectful. I really do hope you may continue your program and help out our community. But please do not use tragic events to whine and pout about your losses, there are bigger problems on our hands.

to Harman

I read the gentleman Kaabzuab and am wondering is this person is a sikh. He seems to be blaming the sikh community for the withdrawal of money from sponsors. I am sure that these people would have had other reason to withdraw thier funds not just this incident. I would like to point out to Kaabzuab that just recently that a man went on a shooting spree in America killing 6 people. This person was a christian, will funds now be withdrawn from christian groups. I say no. This is one incident of more the 1000 that happen in America. I ask Kaabzuab to go to the brooklyn or Califonia and see the gang violence thier yet sponsorship programmes are doing well in these groups. I remeber at one stage after the killing of two rap stars a state of violence errupted in which 20+ african american were killed yet no one backed away from what is happening. Could the withdrawal of funds be from the continued violence seen that is happening in India and in turn effecting these peoples choices. Recently riots and killing of Christians by hindu occured. I would say this is the main reason for the withdrawal, mainly if the sponsors are of a christian background.

So bad.

nimanna's picture
What these kids (desi kalay) want to prove?Still we have to call them sikh boys?

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