Along with the cheerfulness of Thanksgiving/Black Friday, Sacramento faced some dreadful news on the night of Black Friday, November 28th. Two teenage brothers were killed in a fatal shooting at Sacramento’s Arden Fair Mall.
The two victims were identified as brothers 17-year-old Sa’Quan Reed-James and 19-year-old Dewayne James Jr.
Shots were fired on Friday shortly after 6 p.m., after which the shoppers were evacuated almost immediately.
Dewayne James Jr. was declared dead at the scene of the shooting, and Sa’Quan Reed-James later passed away in a hospital, Sacramento police say. The shooter left the scene after the violence, leaving the investigator with only a limited description.
On November 30th, Monday, authorities tweeted that they have identified and arrested the suspected shooter in the shooting as Damario Beck, 18.
On Twitter, Sacramento Police also stated, “Based on the preliminary investigation, the shooting resulted from a verbal altercation between two groups of people that were known to each other from prior interactions.”
The family and community advocates of the teens had called for anyone with information about the shooting to share it with authorities, who offered a reward of up to $1,000.
“I lost my boys. They were good boys. I brought them a long way from Louisiana, we’ve been here a year. I took my kids out of that type of environment to bring them here to something bigger and better,” stated the teens’ father, Dewayne James Sr.
When asked about the suspect, James said that he forgives the suspect but wished that things had turned out differently.
“I don’t have nothing bad to say to the young man, I just hate that you chose wrong. I wish you would have went another route. Now your parents are suffering and I feel your parents’ pain, just like I’m hurting,” stated James.
Officials closed the Arden Fair for the rest of Friday as they examined the crime scene, but reopened it at 10 a.m. Saturday, November 28th.
Vigil speakers criticized the mall for its decision to reopen so close to the recent tragedy and also accused them of having poor security. The brothers’ aunt Sharron Jackson said, “This mall was right back open today. Jolly, jolly, people shopping like nothing happened. What is this? A celebration? Joke’s on us?”
Sacramento’s Mayor Darrell Steinberg said on Twitter that he was waiting for more information on the shooting, but was also concerned about the increasing gun violence in the city.
Many shoppers were extremely shaken by the event, but others want to remind that it doesn’t represent Sacrmaneto as a whole. “I know a lot of times when you look at Black young men, you think thug. You think gang banger,” stated Allegra Taylor, a community advocate with The Village. “These boys were not that. These two were leaders in their school in the San Juan School District,” she continued.
The family started a GoFundMe to help pay for the funeral services in Louisiana.
For many people, this deadly event was unexpected, and it has impacted the brothers’ family and surrounding community horribly.
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