A 911 call reported that shots were fired shortly after 6pm on Sunday, Aug. 14. Healdsburg Police Department officers responded to Front Street near the small Railroad Park and Healdsburg Memorial Bridge to discover that an injured party had already been transferred to a local hospital.
Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office also sent its Henry 1 helicopter to the scene to be available if needed, according to Healdsburg Police Chief Matt Jenkins. Police warned residents on Nixle at 6:54pm to avoid the area on Front Street between Healdsburg Memorial Bridge and Hudson Street.
“The police activity that resulted in Front Street being closed for nearly four hours was for the processing of the scene and evidence collection,” Chief Jenkins said. “It was not as a result of an ongoing search,” although officers did “speak to multiple people in the area and canvassed the immediate area for potential video as part of the investigation.”
The helicopter circled for some time, and the police did not announce the conclusion of their activity and reopen the street until after midnight.
Initial reports said a man was taken to Healdsburg Hospital with a gunshot wound. Later, during the investigation, Healdsburg law enforcement received “assistance from Cotati PD, who sent a team to assist with scene processing and evidence collection,” Jenkins reported.
“Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, we have not released additional information yet,” Jenkins said. He said the victim remained in serious condition.
The Healdsburg Police Department urged anyone with any information to call them at 707.431.3377 or email cr*******@he********.gov.
The area of Front Street between the bridge and Hudson Street is bisected by the city’s bike-and-walking path, which begins at the railroad bridge and follows the tracks to downtown Healdsburg. The small Railroad Park offers benches and views of the river, and is evidently a favorite with transients and others.
Two weeks earlier it was also the scene of another police action. On Aug. 2, at about 11pm, an officer attempted to stop a vehicle he recognized as having been reported as stolen. The driver got out, ran though the park and leapt into the Russian River. Police attempted to catch her for almost an hour until an officer followed her into the river and physically restrained her.
A 25-year-old Healdsburg transient, Amy Angelica Smith, was arrested and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting officers. She was sent to Sonoma County Jail, where she remains in custody.
The shooting followed, by a little over a month, the July 4 murder of a man on Monte Vista Avenue, on the other side of town, after that evening’s fireworks. No further updates on that event were forthcoming from the Healdsburg Police Department.
“We won’t rule out that the two are connected, but there is no evidence that currently links the two,” Jenkins said. “These are the only two confirmed incidents of gunfire this year.”
