Alex Wigglesworth
Los Angeles Times
ORINDA, Calif. — Two people have been arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into a shooting at a Halloween party in Orinda, Calif., that killed five people last month, authorities said.
The arrests were a result of warrants that were obtained by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and executed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Thursday, said Alexandria Corneiro, a public information officer with the ATF’s San Francisco Field Division.
The names of those arrested weren’t immediately available, nor were the charges they were facing. Authorities said that more information would be released at a later time.
Agents seized a firearm while serving the warrants, and investigators used the ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network to link the gun to multiple shootings in the Bay Area, the agency said.
The ATF is also offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the shooting, which took place during a party at an Airbnb rental on Halloween night.
According to police, more than 100 people from around the Bay Area had descended on the home in the East Bay suburb. The gathering had been widely advertised on social media, authorities said. Officers responding to a noise complaint at the residence arrived to find a “highly chaotic scene” with multiple gunshot victims and revelers fleeing.
Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and another died at the hospital that night. They were identified as Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Ramon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco and Oakland; and Javin County, a 29-year-old from Sausalito and Richmond.
A fifth victim, 19-year-old Oshiana Tompkins, was pronounced dead at a hospital the next day, according to a police statement.
Five other men were arrested in connection with the shooting last week, but the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office declined to file charges against them.
Three of the men — Shamron Joshua Mitchell, 30, of Antioch; Jaquez Deshawn Sweeney and Jason D. Iles, both 20 and of Marin City — had been arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy. The fourth, Devin Isiah Williamson, 21, of Vallejo, who authorities described as the promoter of the event, had been arrested on suspicion of acting as an accessory.
All four were released from jail Monday.
The fifth man, Lebraun Tyree Wallace, 28, of San Mateo, who was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy, remains jailed on a probation violation, according to investigators. He has not been charged in connection with the shooting.
Scott Alonso, a spokesman for the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office, said earlier in the week that prosecutors met with sheriff’s investigators on Monday to review the case, but felt they needed more information in order to file charges.
He said that charges can still be filed later as new evidence emerges, and called for anyone who witnessed the shooting to contact investigators.
In the wake of the shooting, Airbnb announced that it would take steps to crack down on “party houses” on its platform, and the Orinda City Council adopted an interim ordinance imposing a temporary ban on short-term rentals in the city unless the host lives on the property and is present when guests are staying there.