Spectators at a large Sikh sports festival in south Sacramento County pummeled a gunman in the crowd with field hockey sticks and cricket bats Sunday after he fatally shot a young man and injured another, sheriff's deputies said.
The brazen shootings occurred at approximately 1:20 p.m. as the victims watched games at the Sacramento Sikh Society Sports Complex in the 7600 block of Bradshaw Road, not far from the Sikh temple, or Gurdwara Sahib, deputies said.
Detectives said they did not know the specific motive for the shootings, but said the assault did not appear to be related to any conflict over the games. The gunman and an accomplice who fled the scene apparently had some ongoing dispute and planned to find their targets at the event, they said.
"We believe the victims were targeted, and the suspects knew the victims were here," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said.
The county Coroner's Office identified the dead man as Parmjit Pamma Singh, 26, of the East Bay community of Bay Point, near Pittsburg. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The other victim, identified only as a 38-year-old man, was sent to UC Davis Medical Center in serious condition, officials said.
The shootings prompted several nearby spectators to turn on the assailants with the sports equipment at hand. One suspect got away while the other was beaten and held by spectators until deputies arrived, Curran said.
"The crowd was armed with cricket bats and field hockey sticks. They didn't hold back in telling us that they hit him," Curran said.
That suspect is being treated for "multiple contusions" at the medical center, Curran said. Deputies said they would not release his name until he was booked into jail.
The Sheriff's Department issued a press release Sunday night asking the public's help in finding a 24-year-old Elk Grove man whom several witnesses saw leaving the scene shortly after the shooting. The release identified the man as Amandeep Singh Dhami and described him as East Indian, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 200 pounds.
Detectives said Dhami "may have information vital to the case and we would like to speak to him."
Organizers aborted the tournament, and deputies cordoned the playing fields and held hundreds of spectators at the complex parking lot until they could talk to them. The vehicle-by-vehicle interviews lasted more than four hours.
Deputies recovered two handguns but found few witnesses to the shootings.
Most in the crowd at the time were attending youth field hockey games and a footrace at other fields in the complex.
"At first we thought it was the pistol to start the race, but then we heard more shots," said Herinder Singh of Hayward, whose son played in the hockey games.
Hundreds of people from the Sacramento Valley, the Bay Area, Arizona and western Canada attended the event, called the Gurmukh Singh Johal Memorial Tournament.
Anyone with information on the shootings or whereabouts of Dhami is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (916) 874-5115, or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
