NEARLY 100 SHOTS FIRED AT A RESIDENCE ON SOBOBA RESERVATION

NEARLY 100 SHOTS FIRED AT A RESIDENCE ON THE SOBOBA RESERVATION  SHOOTING FOLLOWED A FIGHT AND WEAPONS ALLEGATIONS INVOLVING MULTIPLE SUBJECTS AT THE SOBOBA CASINO

Written by Trevor Montgomery 
HemetEyeNews.Com


On September 20, 2015, at approximately 1:00 am, a physical altercation occurred inside the Soboba Casino, located at 23333 Soboba Road in the unincorporated area of San Jacinto. The fight, which involved multiple subjects, eventually spilled out of the casino and into the the parking lot outside the casino. Once outside the casino, one of the subjects produced a firearm which he either brandished or possibly fired.

Immediately following the altercation at the casino, the Riverside County Sheriff's Dispatch Center was flooded with calls from frantic homeowners who reside along Castile Canyon Road, the main roadway on the Soboba Reservation. Numerous callers reported hearing what was later described as "a hail" of gunfire occurring in the area along the road where they resided. Several reports indicated the gunfire was occurring at or near a specific residence on Castile Canyon Road.

Responding deputies arrived on scene and secured the area, at which time they located and interviewed the residents and others from the area who had either witnessed, heard or reported the gunfire. Witnesses told investigators that several cars had driven by the location and the subjects inside the vehicles then opened fire at or in the direction of one of the homes or someone near one of the homes in the area.

One area resident, who wished to remain anonymous due to their fear of retaliation, contacted Hemet News to explain the terror they felt when the shooting began. The witness explained, "We had been in bed watching tv when it all started. We dove off the bed onto the ground and we could hear our children screaming from the living room. I thought it would all stop, but they just kept firing and I remembered the last time I had seen my oldest son he had been smoking in the backyard. I was (a)fraid he might have been the one they were shooting at, but he suddenly came running down the hallway screaming but we couldn't even hear him from how loud the shooting was. It just kept going on and on....(we) didn't think they were ever going to stop."

Due to the extreme recklessness of the crime, investigators from the Hemet sheriff's station responded to the scene to assist in the investigation. During their subsequent investigation, sheriff's investigators located and recovered nearly 100 expended shell casings from the crime scene. They also recovered several weapons from the scene that may have been used in the shooting.

In a press release from the sheriff's department regarding the incident, Sgt. Robert Duckett wrote that the physical altercation that occurred both inside the casino as well as in the casino parking lot and the shooting at the occupied dwelling on Castile Canyon Road were likely related. He also wrote that no arrests had been made at the time of his press release and the criminal investigation was ongoing.

Sgt Duckett also asked that anyone with information about either of the incidents is encouraged to immediately call Investigator Porrazzo at the Hemet Sheriff's Station at (951) 791-3400.


Contact the writer at trevor.hemeteyenews@gmail.com