Officers in Santa Clara are investigating the fatal shooting of a 3-year-old early Tuesday morning and have arrested a suspect, according to the police department.
At about 2:25 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to 3700 block Poinciana Drive on a reported shooting, police said. When officers arrived, they found a victim dead at the scene. Shortly after, the department said officers arrested a man near the complex.
Although the victim's age was initially unclear, police later said they were three years old.
It’s not clear what led up to the shooting, but police identified the man they arrested as the "reporting party's live-in boyfriend."
“It’s really bad,” said Santa Clara resident Sukhraj Singh. “I feel really bad about the guy who died, who was shot.”
Singh said he was heading to the store across the street when he heard the gunshot.
“I was just walking by, it was like 2:30 a.m., and we heard a loud bang from there,” he said, adding, “And a lady ran out crying. And after a few minutes, a lot of cops came in.”
People gathered out front later in the morning, clearly distraught about what had happened. Those who live in the complex, meanwhile, say they’re shaken.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
“It's very alarming. ... I was really surprised,” Kat Lucas said.
It's the second homicide in Santa Clara this year, according to police. The first one occurred on Jan. 16 and involved a man who allegedly killed his wife.
That slaying was the first homicide in the city in more than three years, according to records, and Santa Clara has recorded just 11 homicides since 2015.
