On the evening of August 16, 2025, 30-year-old Hispanic male Richard Anthony Smith was caught in violence that broke the quiet of a wash just north of Third Street and west of Palm Lane in San Bernardino. Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Central Station arrived around 7:30 p.m. to find two adult males suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were rushed to the hospital; the 30-year-old male, identified as Richard Anthony Smith, could not be saved.
The second victim, a 31-year-old male, survived his injuries.
Detectives from the Sheriff's Specialized Investigations Division — Homicide Detail — took over the case and learned that Richard Anthony Smith, age 30 and male, and the surviving victim had been in an altercation with the suspects before shots were fired. Investigators listed the incident as PC 187 – Murder, recorded the scene in the 500 block of East Third Street, and published their tip lines for anyone who saw or heard what happened. Case numbers DR# 012501838 and H# 2025-072 were assigned as the investigation moved forward.
Authorities reported the suspect or suspects as unknown and did not announce any arrests in the immediate aftermath. Local coverage echoed the Sheriff's account: one person dead, one wounded, a search for whoever opened fire, and no names released for any suspect. The basic contours never changed in those first reports — an argument, a wash, gunfire, and a 30-year-old male who did not make it home.
In the days that followed, his name and age appeared in public remembrances and memorial listings, fixing the date of death as Saturday, August 16, 2025. An obituary confirmed that Richard Anthony Smith, age 30 and male, had passed that day, and a fundraiser organized by family underscored the shock of the loss. One memorial site placed the loss in Rialto, reflecting how coverage sometimes blurred city lines in the Inland Empire, even as the Sheriff's account rooted the crime scene in San Bernardino. Through it all, the question of who pulled the trigger — and why — remained unanswered.
