Arrest Made In Petaluma Parking Garage Shooting

PETALUMA, CA — Petaluma police have arrested one person in connection with an October shooting in a downtown parking garage and were continuing to investigate to try and identify additional witnesses, victims or evidence.

Antonio Rivera, a 21-year-old Santa Rosa resident, was arrested Nov. 4 in connection with the shooting reported early Sunday, Oct. 17 at the Keller Street Parking Garage, 114 Keller Street, Petaluma police said Friday in a news release.

At 12:54 a.m. Oct. 17, officers on foot patrol on Kentucky Street were contacted by a bar employee about a possible fight and gunshots heard at the Golden Concourse and Keller Steet Parking Garage.

Officers checked the area but did not find any immediate evidence of a fight or shooting.

They also stopped a car leaving the area but it was initially determined not to be involved.

Two days later, a witness reported that he saw a shooting take place and collected six spent bullet casings from the Keller Street roadway.

"The witness did not initially report the shooting due to being in fear of the suspects," police said. "Officers collected the shell casings and further information from the witness. The case was then assigned to the Investigations Unit."

Detectives reviewed surveillance camera footage from the garage which showed a person shooting at two cars as they exited the parking garage.

Detectives found other cars on the surveillance footage that left the parking garage at the time of the shooting and determined there were a total of seven people in the cars.

When contacted by detectives, the car owners said they were involved in a verbal and physical argument with another group of people in the Golden Concourse prior to the shooting.

An inspection of the cars revealed there was a bullet hole on the back of one of the cars.

Detectives reviewed footage from other surveillance cameras and searched the area to see where additional bullets may have traveled.

Detectives also watched body-worn camera footage from the officers who stopped a car leaving the parking garage and determined the people in the car were the suspects in the shooting.

All the people in the car, a blue Toyota Corolla, have since been identified.

Detectives got an arrest warrant for the driver, Antonio Rivera, who was booked into Sonoma County jail Nov. 4 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and shooting at an occupied vehicle, police said.

On Friday, police asked anyone with information regarding the shooting to contact Petaluma police Detective C. Joerger at 707-778-4372.