‘It could’ve been us’: Mass shooting witnesses gather, share stories at Sacramento vigil
Laura Orosco and her seven friends were having a great night.
The group drove from across Northern California to celebrate Orosco’s 27th birthday. They chose K Street thinking it would be safer than the Midtown area where the other clubs are. They were finishing their night dancing at Dive Bar when the bar kicked everyone out early, at 1:30 a.m., Orosco said.
They gathered outside on the sidewalk waiting for their ride. Then they heard the shots.
“It came from our left, it came from our right and then we just see bodies dropping,” Orosco of Lodi, said.
A homeless man let Orosco and several of her friends ducked in an alcove to hide while they waited for the police to come, she said. She wanted to go back later to find him and thank him, but didn’t know where he ended up, she said.
“It still doesn’t really feel real,” said Krissten Hansen, 26, who traveled from Humboldt County to help her friend celebrate. “It just happened so fast but also in slow motion. Seeing everyone screaming and running. Seeing people on the ground and injured walking around was really hard because it could’ve been us.”
Hansen and Orosco returned to downtown Sacramento Monday night, where they gathered at a vigil for the six people who lost their lives in the shooting and the 12 others who were injured.
Orosco stood held a bouquet of pink flowers and a box of tissues, still in shock, recalling the terror.
While the group didn’t know victims of the shooting personally, they’d seen them at the club, and there did not seem to be any fighting, she said.
“They were all having a good time,” Orosco said. “I didn’t see anything malicious.”
‘Best dad ever’
Others at the vigil included familiy members and friends of the victims.
Among the dead was Sergio Harris, 38, of North Highlands.
Harris’ two daughters held light-up balloons as they lit candles on the sidewalk at the site of his death Monday evening.
“He was the best dad ever,” said Seriyah Harris, 11. “He’d go to the fair with us, go on rides, do fun stuff, play tag. He was nice and good.”
She gave her half sister Malaya Harris, 6, a piggy back ride, as they looked at all the candles and photos on the ground.
“He just loved his kids,” said Tiana Brown, Malaya’s mother. “He was the best dad. We’re gonna miss him. It’s just crazy. He’d always come for his babies. He’d take them to Chuck E. Cheese.”
Another shooting victim, Melinda Davis, 57, was homeless and sleeping downtown. Monica Madrid came to the vigil holding a photo of Davis and a bouquet of red roses to memorialize her.
“I didn’t know her personally but if she had a house she’d be alive today,” said Madrid, 29, of Elk Grove. “The unhoused community all over the country have to worry about what’s going to happen if someone starts shooting up where they live.”
Davis became homeless after she was evicted in 2014 from a North Sacramento apartment, her friend Tangela Hicks told The Sacramento Bee. To keep people housed, the city should should strengthen its rent control ordinance and the county should adopt one, Madrid said.
Sacramento mayor on gun epidemic
Although the victims of the shooting were all adults, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the tragedy highlights the need for the city to invest in additional youth programs for disadvantaged areas.
“Our young people don’t know what their future is or even if they have a future,” Steinberg said to over a dozen television cameras while flanked by community members during a downtown vigil Monday evening.
“It’s about connecting better to one another, caring for one another,” Steinberg said. “Let us create a gentler world by paying attention to real epidemic in our country and that is people who are hurting.”
Jackie Henderson, Sergio Harris’ cousin, came to the stage after the mayor spoke.
“We have to tell the youth it’s okay to come from an impoverished neighborhood,” he said. “I don’t get to kick it with my cousin tomorrow. Instead we have to put our money together and plan a funeral.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 11:53 AM with the headline "‘It could’ve been us’: Mass shooting witnesses gather, share stories at Sacramento vigil."
