San Pablo Police say a 16-year-old teen was taken into custody in connection to a shooting that occurred Tuesday morning near Downer Elementary School.
San Pablo, CA – On Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 at 9:42AM, San Pablo police officers received reports of a shooting that had occurred in the area of 20th Street and Sanford Avenue. This location is approximately one block from Downer Elementary School.
A witness reported hearing gunshots, and saw a male suspect pointing a handgun at a vehicle with tinted windows. Both involved parties fled the scene, in opposite directions, immediately following the incident.
Upon arrival, SPPD officers were unable to locate any victim(s) or suspect(s) however, multiple expended shell casings were located within the roadway. Due to the reported close proximity to Downer Elementary School, an SPPD officer responded to the campus to contact school officials, and the campus was placed on lockdown as a precautionary safety measure.
SPPD Detectives responded to assume the investigation, and quickly developed additional leads to identify a juvenile suspect believed to be responsible for the shooting. SPPD Officers served a search warrant at a residence in the 1800 block of Wilcox Avenue, where an adult family member (22-year old male, San Pablo) was taken into custody on suspicion of Accessory (to the crime), and evidence related to the initial shooting incident was recovered. Subsequently, Detectives were able to establish the location of the juvenile suspect, who was attending class at Richmond High School, where he was quickly located and taken into custody without incident.
Due to the continued close proximity of the investigation to Downer Elementary School, the school campus remained on lockdown until approximately 1:40PM.
Based on the preliminary investigation, Detectives believe this was an isolated incident and that the occupant(s) of the vehicle were the intended target(s) of this shooting. An interagency medical alert was immediately broadcast to area hospitals following initial reports of the shooting; however, at this time, it is still unknown if the victim(s) were injured during this incident. The juvenile suspect (16-years old) was booked at the Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall on a firearms related charge.
This incident remains an active investigation, and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the San Pablo Police Department Investigations Division at 510-215-3150.
