Hostage situation, deadly shooting at park as kids attend spring break camps nearby

A deadly shooting on Thursday afternoon spurred the lockdown of a park north of Sacramento where dozens of children were at spring break camps.

Over the course of the incident at Mahany Park in Roseville, a gunman took two hostages, killing one and wounding another, according to authorities. The suspect and a California Highway Patrol officer were also wounded by gunfire, police said.

At around 12:30 p.m., a CHP task force reported that an officer had been shot, and Roseville police responded with a large number of officers, Capt. Kelby Newton said at a news conference Thursday.

CHP officers had been at the park trying to serve an arrest warrant on the suspect, but he opened fire, striking a CHP officer, authorities said.

As additional officers arrived, an armed suspect was seen running from the area and then began to shoot toward the officers, Newton said. The gunman briefly took two bystanders hostage.

The two hostages were shot by the gunman, Newton said. One of them died from their injuries at the scene. The second was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Firefighters at a station located in Mahany Park heard the active gunfire, police said, and were able to move the wounded CHP officer into the station, where they provided medical care before the officer was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known.

The suspect also sustained gunshot wounds in the incident and was transported to a local hospital, police said. They did not specify how the suspect was wounded. The man’s condition also wasn’t yet known.

There were 33 children attending spring break camps at the park on Thursday. Police said none were near where the shooting took place. But during the incident, staff locked down the park‘s indoor facilities and the pool.

Multiple agencies responded to the incident as Roseville police asked the public to avoid the area in a social media post .

By 3 p.m., police announced on Twitter that the lockdown at the park had been lifted, but the fitness center and library remained closed for the rest of the day.

Police declined to identify the suspect or provide information about the arrest warrant CHP officers were attempting to serve. The names of the hostages will not be released until next of kin are notified, police said.

Parents arrived at the park shortly before 2 p.m. to see whether they could pick up their kids from the camp programs. There were no reports of any injured children, according to police dispatch reports, and parents were asked to pick up children at a nearby elementary school.