‘You need to wake up’: Grant Union High student killed in shooting weeks away from graduation

A Sacramento family is grieving the loss of an 18-year-old Grant Union High School student, just weeks away from graduating, who was gunned down during a South Natomas house party over the weekend.

Jeremiah Walker was at an after-party hosted privately for students attending Inderkum High School’s prom on Saturday, said Berry Accius, a community activist and a spokesman for the Walker family.

“He is now going to be fitted in a funeral outfit rather than a graduation outfit,” Accius said. The family was not ready to speak with reporters, he said.

Sacramento police officers were called just before 1 a.m. to reports of several gunshots ringing out outside a home on the 3100 block of Buchman Street, in the Gateway West neighborhood of South Natomas. The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office has not identified Walker.

An altercation broke out and guns were drawn outside the residence, Accius said. Walker attempted to take cover under a hail of bullets, he said.

“The family is torn,” Accius said.

Callers reported at least one vehicle peeling off as partygoers ran into neighbor’s backyards, according to archived audio dispatches reviewed by The Sacramento Bee. Police haven’t released a suspect description and no arrests have been made.

Zenobia Gerald, a spokesman for the Twin Rivers Unified School District, said in a statement that students and staff will honor Walker’s memory by striving to create a more safe, compassionate and peaceful environment. The district’s crisis intervention team was available for staff members at Grant Union High School’s campus on Monday.

“But we can’t do it alone,” Gerald said in his statement. “It’s going to take every member of the community working together to prevent these senseless acts of violence that continue to shatter far too many families.”

Accius, the CEO and founder of Voice of the Youth, said watching the scene unfold early Sunday stuck with him: He watched Walker’s mother screaming in pain and recalling how she had prayed for Walker to come home safely but experienced a loss of faith when he instead died at the scene.

“She’s like ‘Wake up, you need to wake up,’” Accius said of the mother’s cries.

The party was hosted at an Airbnb, Accius said. He added many parties occur as 18-year-old students can reserve a property on its website and party without adult supervision.

It leads to groups — who traditionally oppose one another — all congregating in one place as the party’s location gets advertised on social media, he said.

“It’s a recipe of disaster,” he said.

An Airbnb spokesman said in an email the property was not reserved at the time of the incident.