Gang members with loaded handgun arrested nearSanta Rosa school

Five gang members were arrested late Saturday night after being found with a loaded handgun in a Santa Rosa park next to an elementary school, according to Santa Rosa police.

Sgt. Lisa Banayat Monday said the five - three adults and two 16-year-olds - were on West Ninth Street at Jacobs Memorial Park which connects to Lincoln Elementary School. The neighborhood has been plagued in recent months with a series of gang-related shootings and gunfire.

The latest incident occurred last Wednesday at about 11:15 a.m. A male standing on the sidewalk along West Ninth Street at the edge of the park shot at a passing car, Banayat said. The bullet struck the windshield but no one was injured. There have been no arrests.

Saturday night, officers first went to the park at about 8:30 p.m. to check on a group of males, who ran in different directions as officers arrived. Six people stopped by officers were found to have gang ties. One was wanted on an arrest warrant but no other arrests were made.

About two hours later, officers were called back to the area and returned to find a group of males using a flashlight in the darkened park, apparently looking for something.

As officers made themselves known, one man dropped a shirt, which was wrapped around a handgun, Banayat said. The gun was a loaded .45-caliber revolver.

The five arrested all were in the group officers had spoken to earlier in the night.

Two 16-year-old Santa Rosa residents were arrested on suspicion of having a gun on school grounds and gang enhancements and were taken to the county’s juvenile detention facility.

Officers took Angel Gustavo Ramirez, 19, Alphonso Gonzalez Reyes, 24, and Alexis Taramo Aguirre, 19, to the Sonoma County Jail. The three Santa Rosa residents were arrested on suspicion of multiple felonies including having a loaded gun at a school and gang enhancements, Banayat said.