Six people were killed and 12 injured in a shooting in downtown Sacramento that took place in a busy nightlife district early Sunday.
No one was in custody, Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told reporters, but she added that “we know that a large fight took place just prior to the shooting, and we have confirmed there were multiple shooters.”
Lester said there were three men and three women among those killed. She did not identify any of the victims.
“We are asking for the public’s help in helping us to identify the suspects in this and provide any information they can to help us solve this,” Lester said.
The shooting occurred at about 2 a.m., Lester said, near the Golden 1 Center, an arena where the Sacramento Kings basketball team plays and concerts take place.
Police said in a statement that they had recovered “at least” one firearm at the scene and had located 12 victims “with varying degrees of injuries.”
Several blocks were cordoned off and dotted with blue and red plastic cones that marked evidence. The police released no further details on the ages or identities of the victims by Sunday afternoon.
Videos posted online showed people shouting and running in the street. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.
Family members waited outside the police lines seeking news about missing loved ones
Among them was Pamela Harris, who said her daughter had called her at 2:15 a.m. to say that her son, Sergio, 38, had been shot and killed outside a nightclub.
“She said he was dead. I just collapsed,” Harris said. She said she was still waiting on official confirmation from police, adding, “I cannot leave here now until I know what’s going on. I’m not going anywhere. It seems like a dream.”
Community activist Berry Accius said he had rushed to the scene shortly after the shooting.
“The first thing I saw was a young lady draped in her blood and others’ blood. She was just on the phone saying ‘My sister is dead! My sister is dead!'” said Accius, whose Voice of the Youth leadership program is focused on gun violence prevention.
The violence occurred just blocks from the state capitol building in an area recently revitalized as an entertainment center. It shattered the welcoming atmosphere as bars and restaurants has again begun filling with people long isolated by COVID-19.
“The numbers of dead and wounded are difficult to comprehend. We await more information about exactly what transpired in this tragic incident,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said on Twitter. “Rising gun violence is the scourge of our city, state and nation, and I support all actions to reduce it.
The incident comes a little more than a month after a man in Sacramento shot and killed his three children and a fourth person at a church before taking his own life.
In a separate shooting overnight in Dallas, a man was killed and 11 other people injured after a person opened fire into a crowd at a concert, police said.
Updated 3:50 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. April 3, 2022
