Sacramento Shooting: Police Chief Reveals ‘Multiple Shooters’ Left 6 Dead, 12 Injured
© AP Photo / Rich PedroncelliA Sacramento City Police Officer stands near a field of evidence markers after a mass shooting In Sacramento, Calif. April 3, 2022.
© AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli
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Six people were killed and another 12 were injured near 10th and K streets in the California city of Sacramento on Saturday night. Police arrived at the scene of the shooting which took place at around 2 a.m. A stolen firearm was recovered, but police are still searching for their suspects.
A shooting broke out after an argument on Sunday in downtown Sacramento that killed three men and three women while leaving three others to battle gunshot wounds at UC Davis Medical Center, while a fourth person was taken to Sutter Hospital. Including the four who were taken to hospitals, at least 12 people were left with injuries. However, information on their condition has yet to be released.
"Officers began lifesaving measures to multiple victims on scene," police said. "Despite these efforts, six victims were pronounced deceased at the scene."
Thus far, the only information released about the shooting by Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester includes that there was a stolen gun found at the scene, and that “multiple shooters” were involved. She added that police were patrolling an area near the shooting site two blocks from the State Capitol at 2 a.m. when they heard gunfire, prompting them to rush to the scene.
Authorities are now asking the public for assistance in capturing their suspect. Forty evidence markers could be seen on the street tied to the crime, and police seem to be focusing on an area of the street outside of the Sharif Fine Jewelry store. The area where the shooting took place is near restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The nightclubs typically close at 2 a.m.
Eyewitness Kelsey Schar, 18, was staying on the fourth floor of Citizen Hotel when she said he heard gunshots, as well as flashes in the dark, prompting her to look out her window where she “saw a guy running and just shooting,” she told the Associated Press.
Eyewitness Madalyn Woodard, a friend of Schar, added that she saw a crowd in the street scatter during the gunfire and a girl who seemed to have been shot in the arm laying on the ground as security guards from a nightclub nearby ran over to help her stop the bleeding.
A video posted to Twitter shows a fight breaking out followed by the sounds of gunshots.
Police say 6 people have died and 10 injured following Sacramento Mass Shooting. #sacramentoshooting #news #streetmediahype pic.twitter.com/uhbkbjfG7S
— Street Media Hype (@StreetMediaHype) April 3, 2022
A police camera also managed to capture part of the shooting, according to Lester, as well as hundreds of pieces of evidence on the scene.
“This morning our city has a broken heart,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “We don’t know all the facts, but we know there were mass casualties in a very short amount of time.”
“The first thing I saw was one of the victims, blood all over her, screaming that she had lost her sister, and a mother running up trying to find out if her son was one of the victims,” said Berry Accius, a community activist. “Something you never want to wake up to,” he added. “Another cowardly act, a senseless act of violence that should have never happened.”
Accius commented on Sunday’s violence, saying, “Here we are again, a month after five people dying, we’re here with six.” Accius is urging city officials to address issues surrounding gun violence, warning that the gun violence in poverty-stricken communities, which he says government officials lack investment in, will soon spread.
Sunday’s shooting marks the third time in the US this year that at least six people have been murdered during a mass shooting. It is also the second mass shooting in Sacramento in the last five weeks. On February 28, David Mora killed his three daughters, a chaperone and himself during a supervised visitation while in a church. Mora used a homemade semi-automatic rifle, despite his restraining order which prohibited him from possessing a firearm.
“What we do know at this point is that another mass casualty shooting has occurred, leaving families with lost loved ones, multiple individuals injured and a community in grief," said California Governor Gavin Newsom. "The scourge of gun violence continues to be a crisis in our country, and we must resolve to bring an end to this carnage."
US President Joe Biden issued a statement late Sunday in acknowledgement of the shooting, noting that “America once again mourns for another community devastated by gun violence.” He went on to call on congressional lawmakers to ban ghost guns, assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and require background checks for all firearm sales, among other measures to ensure comprehensive gun control.