Police in the California state capital have made an arrest in connection with Sunday’s mass shooting that left six people dead and at least a dozen others injured. In the hours after the bloodshed, police say they have received more than 100 videos or photos from the scene and executed search warrants on three homes.
They identified a 26-year-old man as one of the individuals arrested in connection to the shooting, in a press release. He has been charged with assault and illegal firearm possession offenses.
On Monday, authorities identified the six people killed in the shooting, after at least two shooters opened fire in a crowd as bar patrons filled the streets at closing time on the outskirts of the city’s entertainment district.
The Sacramento county coroner identified three women who were killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.
The three male victims were identified as Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and DeVazia Turner, 29.
The sound of rapid-fire gunshots at about 2am sent people running in terror. Twelve people were wounded in the neighborhood anchored by the Golden One Arena, which hosts concerts and the Sacramento Kings.
“My child is out there on that ground, you know? This don’t make any sense and there’s other people’s children that’s out there on the ground. And they won’t tell us nothing, and it’s heartbreaking,” Pamela Harris, Sergio’s mother, told Sacramento’s local Fox affiliate on Sunday, shortly before police confirmed that her son had been killed. “It’s heartbreaking to see what’s going on out here and they’re not telling us anything.”
Since Harris was identified, dozens of people have posted to his Facebook page to express their shock and disbelief at the sudden loss. He was killed alongside his cousin DeVazia Turner, whose father told the same news outlet that the two were out that night to enjoy themselves. “He was out just having fun with his friends,” Turner said. “There’s just nothing to say. I’m just here. I’m grief, that’s all – grief.”
A friend of Melinda Davis said she was a “very sassy lady” who lived on the streets of Sacramento near the shooting site.
Shawn Peter, a guide with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership told the Sacramento Bee he’d known Davis for 15 years. She had been homeless and lived in the area on and off for a decade. “Melinda was a very eccentric individual, a very sassy lady,” he told the newspaper. “This was her world, 24/7.”
Officials had helped her find housing before the pandemic began but she had returned to the downtown business district in recent months, Peter said. A small bouquet of purple roses with a note saying “Melinda Rest In Peace” was left on the street.
The gunfire erupted just after a fight broke out on a street lined with an upscale hotel, nightclubs and bars, and police said they were investigating whether the altercation was connected to the shooting. Video from witnesses posted on social media showed rapid gunfire for at least 45 seconds as people screamed and ran for cover, the Associated Press reported.
Small memorials with candles, balloons and flowers were placed Monday morning near the crime scene. One balloon had a message on it saying in part: “You will forever be in our hearts and thoughts. Nothing will ever be the same.”
Police say they had recovered more than 100 shell casings at the scene and had located several cars and buildings with bullet holes in them.
This mass shooting comes less than six weeks after a man shot himself after killing his three daughters – ages nine, 10 and 13 – and a man who was supervising a visit between the girls and their father at a Sacramento-area church. He was banned from owning a gun because of a domestic violence restraining order but was able to skirt the prohibition by getting a ghost gun, a firearm that is ordered in parts and can be assembled in a few hours with the help of a YouTube tutorial. They lack serial numbers and can be bought without a background check, making them nearly impossible to trace through traditional means.
Several mass shootings have taken place in northern California in recent years and have fueled calls for stricter gun legislation at the federal level.
Joe Biden has long been a champion of what many refer to as “commonsense” legislation such as universal background checks and has made ghost gun abatement part of his administration’s public safety approach.
“Today, America once again mourns for another community devastated by gun violence,” Biden said on Sunday. “But we must do more than mourn; we must act.”
California has more than 100 gun laws on the books that determine who can sell ammunition, where guns can be purchased, and the number of rounds any single firearm can hold. And cities including San Francisco, San Diego and Oakland have banned ghost guns and lodged lawsuits against manufacturers of parts. Still, California lawmakers are continuing to create legislation, including a measure modeled after Texas’s abortion ban, that they hope will keep unregistered or illegally purchased guns out of people’s hands, cars and homes.
But the longtime partisan stalemate and lack of a permanent head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) are making it more difficult for Biden to put his campaign promises into practice and leave gun regulation mainly to states.
On Monday, Senator Dianne Feinstein joined the chorus of officials calling on Congress to pass new gun legislation. “Of course, this isn’t an isolated event. It’s the latest in an epidemic of gun violence that continues to plague our country,” Feinstein said in a statement.
“Enough is enough. We can no longer ignore gun violence in our communities. Congress knows what steps must be taken to stop these mass shootings, we just have to act.”
