Sometimes Social Media is Correct - 2025 Elk Grove Homicides

Information on social media presented as fact should always be looked at with a high degree of skepticism. It was with this frame of reference that we viewed a social media screenshot (see below) from an Elk Grove News reader.

As seen on Meta's Instagram, the posting purported to list the "Northern CA Homicide Count as of November 30." To our surprise, Elk Grove was listed as number 10 with seven homicides.

According to our research, Elk Grove has had seven homicides as of December 1, and not November 30 as listed in the Instagram post. Going in order of most recent, here are this year's incidents:

• December 2 - Elk Grove child fatally stabbed at his residence (1)
• November 2 - Double shooting fatality at Elk Grove night club (3)
• June 23 - Double shooting homicide at Elk Grove residence (5)
• April 7 - Double shooting homicide at Elk Grove residence (7)

In that regard, the list is accurate - year to date, there have been seven homicides in Elk Grove. Even though it is cold comfort regarding overall public safety, except for the early November nightclub shooting, the other homicides appear to be domestic in nature.

The primary suspect wanted in the nightclub shooting has been identified but not apprehended. The other suspects have been arrested, or in the case of this week's fatal stabbing of a child, the suspect was shot and killed trying to evade arrest.  

What about the rest of the list? First, it is not a thorough examination of Northern California cities.

For their purposes, the cities on the Instagram list are limited to Bay Area municipalities and Sacramento and San Joaquin counties. Another Northern California city - Redding - is not listed, but research indicates there have been at least five homicides there in 2025.

What about other Sacramento area suburbs comparable to Elk Grove? Research indicates there have been at least two homicides in Roseville (does not include an officer-involved shooting), and aside from three murders at the State Prison, there has been one in Folsom.

Law enforcement will surely emphasize that, except for the nightclub shootings, the general public in Elk Grove is safe. The other deaths, though tragic and unfortunate, stemmed from domestic relations incidents.

Nonetheless, there is no escaping with about four weeks left in 2025, Elk Grove appears to have a worse homicide number than comparable Sacramento and Bay Area communities.

You can be certain this embarrassing tidbit will not make its way into the Elk Grove Mayor's state of the city speech next year.