Gunfire from a passing vehicle struck two cars parked or driving along the 5800 block of Lowe Avenue in Linda on Friday night, and remarkably, nobody was hurt. One vehicle was occupied at the time shots rang out, the other empty, but both ended up with bullet damage as deputies descended on the scene to piece together what happened.
According to the Yuba County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to reports of subjects shooting from a vehicle on the 5800 block of Lowe Avenue on September 11. Investigators processed the scene and confirmed that one occupied vehicle and one unoccupied vehicle were struck by gunfire, but no injuries were reported among anyone in the area. The case remains under active investigation, the department said.
The sheriff's office has not released details on the make or model of the suspect vehicle, nor has it said whether the occupied car was deliberately targeted or caught in indiscriminate gunfire. Those questions remain open as the investigation continues.
A Street With a Troubled History
Friday's shooting is not the first time gunfire has erupted on this stretch of Lowe Avenue. Back in February 2020, the Appeal-Democrat reported that a 21-year-old resident of the 5900 block was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and firearms charges after a 24-year-old man was shot following an argument in the same block — the victim survived a superficial wound but crashed his vehicle while trying to drive himself to the hospital. That same year, CBS News Sacramento reported that a carjacking and armed robbery suspect led law enforcement on a pursuit before fleeing into an apartment complex near Lowe Avenue, prompting a SWAT team response and two arrests after the suspect barricaded himself inside.
More recently, in February 2026, KCRA reported that Yuba County Sheriff's deputies were involved in a shooting near North Beale Road and Lowe Avenue after an assault suspect allegedly turned toward deputies, triggering a temporary road closure. The suspect was hospitalized with non-fatal injuries, and no deputies were harmed in that incident.
Housing and Demographics of the Block
The 5800 to 5900 block of Lowe Avenue is also home to Beverly Terrace, a 40-unit affordable housing community operated by Mercy Housing that primarily serves agricultural and farm-worker families. The property, completed in 2000, includes a community center, computer lab, and after-school programs. Linda itself is an unincorporated census-designated place in Yuba County with a median individual income of $30,300 in 2023, according to Data Commons — one of the lower-income communities in the county alongside neighboring Marysville, which sits within a county of 88,691 residents as of 2025.
Potential Charges Under California Law
Should a suspect be identified, California law imposes steep penalties for vehicle-based gunfire. Under Penal Code Section 26100, discharging a firearm from inside a motor vehicle — commonly charged as a drive-by shooting — is a felony punishable by up to seven years in state prison, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. The statute also penalizes drivers or vehicle owners who knowingly allow passengers to bring or fire guns from inside the vehicle.
Separately, Penal Code Section 246 makes it a violent felony to maliciously and willfully discharge a firearm at an occupied motor vehicle or inhabited structure, carrying penalties of three, five, or seven years in state prison, per KAASS Law. Prosecutors do not need to prove intent to kill or physical injury to secure a felony conviction under that statute.
Part of a Wider Pattern in Unincorporated Yuba County
Because Linda has no municipal police department, all law enforcement responsibility falls to the Yuba County Sheriff's Office, which has managed a cluster of violent firearm incidents across the county's unincorporated communities this year. Hoodline previously reported on a fatal Olivehurst shooting on Fleming Way in April and an active gunfire probe on 6th Avenue the month before. Deputies patrolling pockets like Linda and Olivehurst routinely field firearm-related calls as part of their beat.
Investigators looking for suspect vehicles in cases like Friday's shooting often lean on the department's Problem-Oriented Policing team alongside Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras, which Hoodline detailed in an August report on the sheriff's office camera network and its accompanying audit logs, put in place after Yuba County signed its Flock contract in 2022. It remains unclear whether those cameras captured any vehicle movements around Lowe Avenue on the night of the shooting.
How to Report Information
The Yuba County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with dashcam footage, witness accounts, or other information about Friday's shooting to come forward. Residents can call the department's anonymous tip line at (530) 749-5181, email [email protected], or reach the main non-emergency line at (530) 749-7777. The investigation remains active, and no arrests have been announced.
