Peyton Deck, senior, and a resident of Brea’s Raintree Apartment Homes complex, was home alone when she heard a noise that she initially dismissed as fireworks, something she hears regularly in her community. But upon receiving a call from her mother, who urged her “to stay inside,” Deck realized the noise was not from fireworks, it was from the sound of gunshots.

At 7:29 p.m. on Aug. 30, Brea Police Department dispatch received multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire at a residential unit in the Raintree apartment complex at 650 North Tamarack Ave. Witnesses informed authorities of apparent arguing in one of the units, followed by nine gunshots. When authorities arrived at the scene, one man was discovered dead on the premises. 

Some Raintree residents were at first unaware of the gunshots, but were alerted to the crime by the appearance of first responders.  

“I was inside my apartment just relaxing [until] all I could hear were police helicopters flying over our area and police officers surrounding nearby entrances,” a BOHS freshman, who requested anonymity out of concern for their safety, said.

The complex was cordoned off with caution tape as a police helicopter flew overhead and armed police officers arrived, along with Brea Fire Department paramedics.

Footage from the patrol helicopter captured officers armed with assault rifles rushing up the stairs to the residential unit where the shots were fired. After entering the apartment, police soon ushered out a man on a stretcher. Another individual was pronounced deceased at the scene.

“It was almost surreal to have police surround our complex on a random Wednesday night,” Deck said. When she “started receiving texts from [her] friends and family” checking on her safety, she skipped her usual dog walk “to remain safe and inside.” Outside, emergency personnel lined the streets and blocked the complex’s entrances and exits. 

The investigation continued through the night, evidenced by a heavy police presence the following day. “[They] were there until the next morning, and I got stopped while driving to school so they could ask if I lived there,” Deck said.

A 2023 BOHS alumnus, who asked to remain anonymous, came home that evening to discover the area barricaded by tape. They felt “paranoid and anxious” when another resident said, “a murderer [was] hiding in the apartments,” and “shocked and scared to know that such a tragic incident happened so close” to their home.

On Aug. 31, on the afternoon following the day of the shooting, the Brea Police Department detained a suspect, Sidney Bararchie Clarke, 29.

Clarke is currently being held at Orange’s maximum security Theo Lacy jail, and is expected to make his first court appearance at the Santa Ana Courthouse on Sept. 5. The name of the victim remains withheld, as the department takes measures “to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.” 

This story was originally published on The Wildcat on September 3, 2023.