A late-night call about screaming and gunfire on the 1500 block of W. Westward Avenue in Banning ended with officers finding 18 expended rifle casings scattered outside a residence and an AR-15-style rifle that appeared to have just been fired. A man near the residence was taken into custody. No one was hurt, but the scene left investigators with a stack of unanswered questions about what triggered the gunfire in the first place.
According to the Record Gazette, Banning Police responded after reports that a male and female were screaming and that multiple gunshots had been heard in the area. Officers who arrived contacted a male near the residence and discovered the spent casings near the front of the home, along with the recently fired rifle. A search of the residence turned up several additional firearms, which police seized along with the rifle as evidence. Patch reported that officers were dispatched to the scene at 11:13 p.m. on September 25, and the case was logged under Banning Police case number 26-1742.
Patch reported that the man's identity had not been released. The Record Gazette reported he was arrested for violating California Penal Code § 246, which covers shooting at an inhabited dwelling or occupied vehicle.
What the Charge Actually Carries
A conviction under that statute is no minor matter. Per FindLaw's state code database, Penal Code § 246 carries a baseline sentence of three, five, or seven years in state prison, or up to a year in county jail, plus fines reaching $10,000. Legal analysis published by Cron Israels & Stark notes the charge also counts as a violent felony strike under California's Three Strikes law, meaning a conviction would carry sentencing consequences well beyond any time served.
Legal guidance from Eisner Gorin LLP explains why prosecutors don't need to prove anyone was inside the home when shots were fired. Under the law, a structure only needs to be currently used for living purposes to qualify as an inhabited dwelling, regardless of whether residents were present at that exact moment.
A Street With a Troubled Recent History
This is not the first violent incident to rattle the Westward Avenue corridor. A Banning Police report relayed by local news outlets in June documented a shooting near Banning High School, where a masked gunman fired into a vehicle during a graduation ceremony on the same street.
The street's history stretches back further still. Beaumont News Source reported in September 2025 that detectives investigating a fatal hit-and-run on Ramsey Street traced the suspect's vehicle to an apartment complex in the 200 block of West Westward Avenue, tying the corridor to yet another major felony case.
A City Shaped by Its Largest Institution
Banning is a city of 29,505 residents situated in the San Gorgonio Pass along Interstate 10 in Riverside County, according to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data. A June 2023 grant application filed with the California Board of State and Community Corrections noted that the city hosts Riverside County's largest adult jail, the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, and that frequent inmate releases into the surrounding community create localized public safety pressures for Banning officials.
Key details from the September 25 shooting remain unresolved. Investigators have not said what prompted the shouting or gunfire, nor have they clarified the relationship between the male suspect and the woman reportedly heard screaming.
The incident remains under investigation by the Banning Police Department, which is asking anyone with information to call 951-922-3170.
