Suspect in possible racially-motivated incident at Rancho Cordova park taken into custody
RANCHO CORDOVA -- A suspect has been taken into custody for trying to intentionally run over a group of people at a Rancho Cordova park, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office says that around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, they got dozens of calls about a man driving onto the grass at Heron Landing Park.
Deputies said the incident appeared to be racially motivated, since the suspect targeted a large group of Muslim community members of South Asian heritage, according to the Sacramento Valley/Central California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV/CC). The group was initially thought to be of Middle Eastern descent.
"From there, he is yelling at everyone that he is going to shoot them, bomb them, yelling all kinds of racial slurs," said Sgt. Amar Gandhi with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. "That obviously caused a lot of alarm for multiple reasons."
Investigators said no one was hurt.
Later Sunday night, the sheriff's office identified the wanted suspect as 33-year-old Robert Steven Avery. He is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, and hate crime once arrested.
A photo of Avery as well as the vehicle -- a grey Honda Insight with the plate number 6ZLG895 -- he was reportedly driving have been released by detectives.