DA Anne Marie Schubert Announces Operation “Sleepwalker” Targeting Gangs & Guns

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announces the conclusion of operation “Sleepwalker,” a large-scale law enforcement operation targeting gangs and guns in the Sacramento region.

Officers from the Sacramento Police Department, Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, California Department of Justice and the California Highway Patrol concluded a six-month investigation with the service of 19 search warrants. Assisting those agencies were additional agents with the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, California’s Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Placer County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit and the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.  This investigation focused on the proliferation of illegal firearms and firearm related violence.

During several undercover operations involving multiple individuals, more than 100 firearms were purchased from persons illegally trafficking those weapons. This morning, law enforcement agencies arrested 26 individuals. Officers seized an additional 23 firearms, of which six are assault weapons.

Across the state, there are drastic increases in homicide and shootings along with illegal possession of illegal firearms.  Many are ghost guns containing no serial number, and those that have serial numbers are often straw purchases from other states. In addition, the guns are often modified to fire in the fully automatic mode and have extended magazines capable of holding 30 or more rounds of ammunition.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert states, “Our own internal county statistics show increases of more than 30% in the homicide rate and 40% in the rate of non-fatal shootings. The influx of billions of dollars in EDD fraud into the hands of criminals resulted in a drastic increase in the number of illegal firearms and firearm related violence in our communities. We will continue to investigate violent crime and assist law enforcement in their endless efforts to stem the tide of violent crime. I am also proud of the attorneys in my office who reviewed more than 100 search warrants and court orders leading to today’s take down. This was a large scale undertaking by my office involving hundreds of hours of warrant reviews and legal assistance.”

Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn, representing the lead agency in this operation, stated the following, “”Thanks to the hard work of SacPD detectives and officers, as well as our partner agencies, a large number of guns are now off the streets in the Sacramento region. As violent crime has increased, the dedication of our officers is even more crucial to the safety of our community. We are grateful for their commitment to Sacramento.”

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