Before a gunman killed Billy Hinkle and Craig Cousins in a Vallejo homeless encampment on Memorial Day, they had tried to maintain peace in their unsheltered community, stepping in to resolve potential conflicts early, their friends and family say.
That ended last week, when police found Hinkle and Cousins shot near Sacramento Street and Daniels Avenue. Officials pronounced both men dead at the scene, according to a statement from the Vallejo Police Department. A third shooting victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, is in critical condition at a local hospital.
The suspected gunman remains at large, Vallejo police spokesperson Sgt. Rashad Hollis told Open Vallejo on Monday.
Hinkle, 44, and Cousins, 59, had likely been trying to stop a man who had brought a gun into the encampment, their friends and family say.
“From everything I’d seen from Billy, he was an outstanding man. He and Craig were the peacekeepers out there,” said Kathy Salm, a resident of the encampment and a friend of both men.
“If your back was against the wall and things weren’t fair, you could call on them and it would be solved without violence because of the respect level they had,” said Duvond Quint, who has been living at the encampment for two years.
Hinkle left behind a wife, Kim, who said they had lived at the encampment for 10 years. They had two sons together, she told Open Vallejo by phone as she walked through their living space, recalling their 22 years of marriage.
“I was just so in love with Billy. I never fell out of love with him,” she said. “I can’t wait for sunlight, morning light, so I can come over here and just sit in the middle of all his stuff.”
Other encampment residents remembered Hinkle and Cousins for supporting others in the homeless community.
Don Deck said he had been friends with Cousins for 15 years, ever since he gifted Cousins a bicycle inner tube. “Craig was open, he was straightforward, he was honest. He was a true friend,” he said through tears.
“They were actually really nice people,” said Daniel Padilla, who has been homeless for 11 months. “Billy was always smiling and always making jokes to make you laugh and stuff like that.”
He remembered Cousins similarly. “I almost saw him like a father figure, you know? I never told him that,” Padilla said. “Why would somebody actually just do something to them? I mean, I don’t get it.”
Hinkle and Cousins were the fifth and sixth homicide victims in Vallejo this year, according to police.
“We’ve lost two really good, outstanding, helpful men,” said Salm. “I feel really sorry for the rest of our community that was friends with these people and have now lost them. It’s a downright shame.”
The shooting marked a grim week in the encampment. On Friday, police found a burned body roughly 1,000 feet away from the scene of the shooting. Vallejo police have classified the death as “suspicious,” Hollis told Open Vallejo, but declined to elaborate.
Quint said the person found burned was a friend of his known as Jado.
“Everybody’s kind of like, what’s next?” Quint said, describing the mood of the homeless community. “We don’t want to see more senseless death that is totally preventable. If he’d had a place to go, or just a little bit more than what he had, which was nothing, he’d still be here, and we would not be having this conversation at all.”
On Monday, Vallejo police pursued an allegedly stolen white Honda CR-V they believed was driven by a homicide suspect, according to dispatch audio. The occupant fled into the encampment, which was soon surrounded by officers and deputies from several agencies. After taking the driver into custody, police determined that he was not the suspected shooter, Hollis said.
Residents described living in fear of another killing.
“I haven’t slept for two nights. This guy can come back anytime,” 62-year-old Tim Burke said of the Memorial Day shooter.
Kim Hinkle said she plans to leave the site to live with her children. She remains stunned by her loss.
“I sure will miss my husband,” she said, her voice breaking. “Because I haven’t seen him with my own eyes and confirmed that he’s dead, there’s a part of me that still goes, ‘Well, if you didn’t see him, it didn’t happen,’ so I turn my head to see if he’s walking in from behind.”
Paul Kuroda contributed reporting.
