A woman found shot in the head when police responded to reports of a large fight in Hemet has died, officials said Wednesday.
The victim, a 27-year-old Hemet resident, was airlifted to a trauma center following the shooting Tuesday evening but ultimately succumbed to her injuries, Hemet police said in a news release.
Family members identified her as Tamika Haynes, a mother to an 8-year-old son and who was 3 months pregnant when she was shot. They say she was sitting in a car and was an innocent bystander as violence erupted in the street.
One relative, Stevlyn Sandridge, said “a piece of us died yesterday with her.”
“She has a lot of family, she’s very loved, and we don’t understand the details or anything,” Sandridge continued. “We don’t know anything about why she was killed and why was they shooting into a crowd of innocent people.”
To make matters worse, the family says Haynes’ 13-year-old sister died a week ago after collapsing.
Haynes was among five people wounded after police were called about a group of women fighting in the 1200 block of Valencia Avenue just before 6 p.m.
The other four are expected to survive, police said Wednesday.
Investigators have not commented on the relationship among those involved, and they say a motive behind the gunfire is not yet known. Witnesses told KTLA more than a dozen shots were fired.
Police describe the incident as multiple shootings that “took place at basically the same time,” but it’s unclear how many firearms were involved. There is no evidence the shootings were gang-related, officials added.
Officers first received a report of several women fighting, and the brawl grew to involve as many as eight people, officials said.
While police were en route to the location, someone called 911 to report that shooting had erupted near a crowd, authorities said.
Footage from the scene showed a section of Valencia Avenue blocked off with crime tape as first responders worked to pull a woman from a BMW and load her onto a stretcher. Paramedics were also seen treating a man on the sidewalk nearby.
Responding officers found three people suffering from gunshot wounds, and they learned two other people shot had made their own way to the hospital.
Haynes was among those still at the scene, along with two men — one with serious wounds to his leg and back, and the other who’d been struck in his arm near the elbow, police said.
The men were both taken to local hospitals by ambulance, while Haynes was airlifted.
Authorities said they would not provide updated information on the wounded individuals’ conditions Wednesday.
There was no identifying information available on the two people who self-transported to the hospital.
Detectives say they remained at the scene into Wednesday morning to collect evidence and interview witnesses, but the investigation remained fluid into the afternoon. They’re hoping to speak with additional people who witnessed the fight or shooting.
No arrests have been made.
“We will definitely want to see someone held accountable for what happened to her,” Sandridge told KTLA. “She was taken away from her family.”
Anyone with information can contact Hemet police Sgt. Gabe Gomez at 951-765-2396.