Gunfire outside El Verano house party strikes residences, cars

Gunfire outside a house party in El Verano early Saturday morning struck some homes and cars in the area, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Lucas said no one was injured by the gunshots at Riverside Drive near the border of the city of Sonoma.

“Some bullets struck at least one house, maybe more, and potentially at least one vehicle, if not more,” Lucas said.

Deputies had responded to at least one call about the party before shots were fired, Lucas said, but he did not know the nature of the call or the number of people at the party.

Zane Boehlke, 32, said he lives in an apartment complex across the street from where the house party took place and heard what sounded like 20 rounds of gunshots at around 4 a.m. on Saturday.

“It woke me right up out of a dead sleep, and the first thing I said was get down,” Boehlke said.

He grabbed his two young children, who were sleeping in bed with him and his wife, and crawled low across the floor to the other side of his apartment.

Boehlke said gunfire sprayed the walls of his apartment building, struck several cars and left a bullet hole in one of his neighbor’s windows.

“Frankly, they have rowdy parties over there all the time,” Boehlke said of the house that hosted the party. “I had a feeling something like this might happen because people get crazy over there.”

The owner of the house, Clem Moore, described the incident to the Sonoma Index-Tribune as “a property owner’s nightmare.”

Moore said he splits his time between residences in Sonoma and Austin, Texas, and makes the Riverside house available for rental on VRBO when he’s away.

Moore said the booking was made at the last minute and he was told eight to 10 people would be staying at the house. According to neighbors, dozens more people showed up for a party.

“Apparently somebody walked out of the party and ended up shooting at my home,” Moore said. “I don’t know how many casings, how many rounds were shot. There are bullet holes in the side of the house, two windows shot out. They shot down the road; at other buildings.”

Moore vowed to assist the police in any way he could in its ongoing investigation.

“Our neighborhood was terrorized,” Moore said,

Sonoma Index-Tribune Editor Jason Walsh and Press Democrat Staff Writer Mary Callahan contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian.