SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As Sacramento mourned the worst mass shooting in the United States this year with sidewalk shrines near the Capitol, authorities identified the six people who were killed Sunday night in a barrage of gunfire outside a stretch of popular downtown nightclubs.
The dead include three men and three women. The youngest victims, Johntaya Alexander and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, were both 21 years old. The oldest victim, Melinda Davis, was 57, according to the Sacramento County coroner.
Also identified were Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; Devazia Turner, 29; and Sergio Harris, 38, who was previously identified by family members.
Seven of the 12 injured victims being treated at hospitals were reported to have been released. Authorities remained at the crime scene until early Monday, where hundreds of evidence markers were laid out on the pavement, including vestiges of at least 75 shots fired.
“The scale of violence that just happened in our city is unprecedented during my 27 years here,” said Sacramento City Police Chief Kathy Lester during a Sunday news conference at police headquarters. “We are shocked and heartbroken by this tragedy. But we are also resolved as an agency to find those responsible and to secure justice for the victims and the families.”
Police were searching for what they called “multiple shooters” Sunday evening, and offered few details about what happened or why except to say that just after 2 a.m., a car drove up 10th Street and unleashed a sustained fusillade of bullets into a crowd of people before fleeing.
At least one other person fired a gun, although it was not yet clear whether that person was in the car or in the crowd firing back at the car shooter. It was not even certain Sunday whether that was the only crime scene, as a victim was also transported from another location a block away.
The killings took place on and near the city’s K Street mall, within view of the grand white dome of the state Capitol, where in recent years lawmakers have enacted the nation’s toughest gun control laws but remain confounded by how to stem mass shootings. Already this year, Sacramento has been shaken by two of the four worst spasms of gun violence in the nation, including an incident in February when a man killed his three children, a man supervising their family visit, and himself.
Police radio traffic and videos posted to the internet revealed a chaotic series of events early Sunday. A melee broke out in front of a club just before the shooting, although it was not clear whether it was related or just a coincidence. Afterward, three men and three women were killed in the street. Many more people were transported in ambulances, while at least two people dragged themselves to hospitals for treatment of gunshot wounds.
At least one handgun — later discovered to be stolen — was recovered. The rapid gunfire heard on videos suggested a semi-automatic weapon may have been used, but a police spokesman, citing the ongoing investigation, did not offer information on the weapon used.
“This morning our city has a broken heart. This is a senseless and unacceptable tragedy,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said at a news conference Sunday. “Thoughts and prayers aren’t nearly enough. We must do more as a city, as a state and as a nation. This senseless epidemic of gun violence must be addressed.”
On Monday, President Joe Biden issued a statement praising first responders and demanding more action on guns.
“We must do more than mourn; we must act. That is why my administration has taken historic executive action to implement my comprehensive gun crime reduction strategy — from standing up gun trafficking strike forces to helping cities across the country expand community violence interventions and hire more police officers for community policing,” he wrote.
“We also continue to call on Congress to act. Ban ghost guns. Require background checks for all gun sales. Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.”
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(Garrison and Chabria reported from Sacramento and Mejia, Winton and Fry from Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times staff writers Hannah Wiley in Sacramento and Jack Dolan, and Ian James in Los Angeles contributed to this report.)
