Vallejo police are investigating a New Year’s Eve shooting that left one person dead, according to a department press release.
At approximately 5:52 p.m. Tuesday, staff at Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center alerted Vallejo police of a walk-in patient with at least one gunshot wound, department spokesperson Sgt. Rashad Hollis told Open Vallejo. The shooting, which occurred on the 100 block of Kemper Street, marks the city’s 25th homicide in 2024.
The Solano County Coroner’s Office declined to name the victim, citing the ongoing investigation. No other victims were identified in this incident, according to Hollis, and police have made no arrests.
Vallejo has experienced an elevated number of homicides since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 20 or more killings each year since 2020, when 29 people were killed, including the June 2 killing of Sean Monterrosa by Vallejo Police Det. Jarrett Tonn. In 2019, Vallejo saw 13 homicides, including the Feb. 9 police shooting of Willie McCoy. In 2018, there were six, including the Feb. 13 killing of Ronell Foster by Ryan McMahon, one of the half-dozen officers who fired 55 bullets at McCoy.
According to the Pew Research Center, nationwide, violent crime dropped nearly 50 percent between 1993 and 2022. However, a 2024 investigation by The New York Times found that fatal gun violence drastically expanded through the pandemic years, particularly in historically affected areas. In addition, the number of people living close to gun violence also increased, including areas that have not typically experienced gun violence.
Vallejo’s homicide numbers do not include fatal traffic collisions, which Hollis said are typically counted separately. The city saw 12 fatal traffic incidents in 2024, also surpassing the 2023 count.
