12-Year-Old Girl Killed in Delano, California ‘Drive-By’ Shooting

A 12-year-old girl has been killed following a shooting on July 2 in Oleander Street, Delano, California.

Police confirmed two people are dead and multiple people are injured at a press conference in the early hours of July 2.

The girl’s family confirmed with 23ABC News that she was one of the victims. The family have described the shooting as a ‘drive-by.’

The outlet reported:

A 12-year-old girl was among those who was killed in a shooting in Delano on Thursday night, according to family.

Family spoke to 23ABC following Thursday night’s shooting that left two people dead and hospitalized three others.

Family said people were gathered at a home in the area of Oleander Street and 20th Street for a birthday party.

Delano Police said it is unknown how the suspect arrived at the scene, but family said some drove up slowly to the home before opening fire.

Police Confirmed There Were 2 Fatalities at the Shooting

Delano Police Officer Jose Madrigal said at the press conference,

“Today at about 7:21 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 2100 block of Oleander Street in Delano regarding a report of shots fired.

“There are currently multiple victims at this location. Some have been transported to local hospitals.

“There’s no number as of yet, but I can confirm there have been two fatalities at this location.

“The information we have is that there was some type of gathering happening at a residence. it’s unknown how the suspects arrived at the location, but we do know multiple shots were fired at the residence, striking multiple victims.

“At this time, we’re investigating all leads we have at this time. We do not have anyone in custody at this time.”

The Incident was Isolated to a Single Location

Madrigal confirmed the area had been cordoned off by police, and he confirmed the incident was isolated to the one location.

“This is the only location where we are investigating, there are no other locations associated to this incident.”

He did not confirm how many shots were fired. “At this time … we don’t have an exact number. There were multiple shots fired. There are multiple victims, and two persons deceased.

“We’re still early on the investigation, but we are asking if anyone did see anything or hear anything in this area … to please contact the Delano Police Department.”

Officers have not interacted with any suspects at this time, he said.

Regarding family members, Madrigal said, “we did contact multiple people … we’re not sure what type of gathering it was, but there were family members there.”

KGET spoke with Delano police chief Robert Nevarez, who said “the shooting was likely gang related.”

According to KGET,

Nevarez said the five people were shot in the 2100 block of Oleander Street [between 20th Street and 22nd Street] at around 7:30 p.m. Some kind of a gathering was taking place at the home when shots were fired.

The three people who were wounded suffered non-life threatening wounds, Nevarez said.

The two people who were killed were described as females, but their ages were not immediately known. Detectives remain at the scene as the investigation is in its early stages.

Bakersfield Now reporter Jeff Platt posted a picture from the scene on Twitter, saying “Multiple victims, two fatalities at shooting in Delano. Waiting on more info from Sgt. Detectives still looking for evidence. Conflicting witness statements. Some say drive-by, others say shooter walked up and started firing.”

More information will be posted as this story develops.

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