Police in California have arrested 17 people in connection with a series shooting at a Stockton Sikh temple which occurred on August 27, 2022, and a shooting at a Sacramento Sikh temple on March 23, 2023. During the investigation, law enforcement was able to prevent two additional shootings from occurring.
The joint effort, executed search warrants at 20 locations, also resulted in the seizure of 41 firearms including AR15, AK47, handguns and machine gun.
Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupré in a press conference said, all of the men arrested are part of California’s Sikh community and were members of one of two rival groups whose feud was fueled by intense personal connections.
She said for past several years California’s peaceful Sikh community has been plagued with the acts of violence due to 2 warring criminal syndicates.
“This started out as one group, and one faction broke off, and since then they have been rivals trying to outdo each other. Mainly they show up places and try to shoot each other,” Dupré said, comparing it to the U.S. Civil War “where brothers were fighting against brothers.”
Dupré said the violence began with fist fights and sward attacks in 2018 at the annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City, one of the largest South Asian festivals held outside of the Indian subcontinent. There, Dupré said, a man was beaten so hard with a sword that it broke. The violence soon escalated to shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.
Since then, these syndicates have been involved in an additional 10 shootings and total of 11 men were shot. These shooting include 5 men shot outside Sikh temple in August of 2022 and 2 men shot at Sacramento Sikh parade this year.
The rash of violence attracted the attention of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force, which launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and various other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The investigation intensified in March, when authorities learned of potential violence at a Sikh parade in Sacramento. Dupré said police stopped two cars before they reached the parade, arresting seven people and seizing four handguns and two other guns with large capacity magazines.
A shooting still happened at the parade, injuring two people, but Dupré said a “mass casualty incident” was prevented.
Dupré said, two of the people arrested are mafia members who are “wanted on a number of murders” in India.
“Today, California is safer thanks to collaboration, determination, and swift action by DOJ agents and our law enforcement partners in Sutter County,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “No family should ever have to worry about drive-by shootings or other forms of gun violence in the neighborhoods where their children live and play. As a result of this joint law enforcement effort, we’re taking guns off the street and putting suspected gang members and their associates behind bars.”
