24 Sep Antioch Mayor Calls for Help With Gun Violence, Not Ruling Out National Guard or Curfew

(Image courtesy of city of Antioch via Bay City News)

By Tony Hicks
Bay City News

Antioch Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe said the city needs law enforcement help, even suggesting the National Guard or a curfew as possible solutions to stop a recent spate of at least a dozen gang-related shootings in the Sycamore and Cavallo Road areas.

At least four people have been wounded since 21-year-old Elijah Scales was fatally shot on Sept. 2 in the 2100 block of Peppertree Way.

In the aftermath, a gang war seemingly erupted in Antioch, including at a Sept. 16 service for Scales, when a man was shot and critically wounded. Police said Monday no one was hurt Saturday in the latest gang-related shooting at 7:56 p.m. in the 1100 block of Sycamore Drive. Three nearby businesses were struck by the gunfire.

There’s been more than a dozen shootings in Antioch since Labor Day weekend, but some weren’t related to the apparent gang war, including three other shootings between Friday and Sunday. One of those killed an 18-year-old Friday night near Cavallo Road at Sunset Drive.

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Police also said a Sept. 16 shooting at the Contra Costa Fairgrounds that injured a man wasn’t related to the gang shootings. Police previously reported it was linked.

Police said hundreds of bullets were fired in the shootings, many striking homes and businesses.

Speaking from the Antioch City Council chambers, Hernandez-Thorpe posted a video Sunday on YouTube in which he called the past three weeks an “unprecedented level of death and violence.”

“We believe that the shootings are retaliatory in nature and are being investigated as gun gang rivalries,” he said. “As a result of the violence, we’ve added extra patrols to the Sycamore community.”

“Let me be very clear, these gangs have no regard for human life, they have no regard for law enforcement, and they have no regard for you or me.”

Hernandez-Thorpe called for help, either from the Safe Streets Task Force — a multi-agency law enforcement partnership directed at high priority offenses in Contra Costa County — or for Gov. Gavin Newsom to add CHP patrols to Antioch as he has in other cities such as Oakland.

Hernandez-Thorpe said Antioch needs both immediate and “long-term eradication of these gangs. We also need to hold these gang members accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

The mayor said if things get bad enough, he’d support shutting down Cavallo Road or even calling for the National Guard to come help stop the violence.

“If the violence does not subside, I will continue to push for tougher action and tougher measures to end the violence,” Hernandez-Thorpe said. “That will include restricting access to the Sycamore community and restricting access to Cavallo Road, a curfew, and calling on the governor to send the National Guard so that we can bring an end to the gun violence.”

Hernandez-Thorpe said he’s been in constant contact with Interim Chief of Police Brian Addington and council member Tamisha Torres-Walker, in whose district the gang war erupted. He also said he would meet with community and faith leaders to discuss other possible solutions.

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