Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told a news conference that police were patrolling the area around 2 a.m. when they heard gunshots. When they reached the spot, they found a crowd gathered on the street and six dead. Another 10 either picked themselves up or were taken to hospital. No information was provided on their condition.
Authorities do not know if one or more suspects are involved and are seeking the public’s help in locating the perpetrator. Leicester did not provide details on the type of weapon used.
This is “a very complicated and complicated scene,” he said. Leicester appealed to the public, asking witnesses or anyone with recordings of the incident to contact police.
Shortly after the shooting, a video was posted on Twitter showing people running down the street amid the sound of rapid gunfire. The video shows several ambulances on the spot.
Residents were asked to avoid the area, which is full of restaurants and bars leading to the Golden 1 Center, where the Sacramento Kings play basketball.
A roadblock is located one block away from the scene of an apparent mass shooting in Sacramento early Sunday morning. (Rich Pedroncelli / The Associated Press)
Berry Accius, a community activist, said he came to the scene shortly after the shooting.
“The first thing I saw was, as victims … a young girl screaming, ‘My sister was killed.’ A mother runs, “Where is my son? Has my son been shot?” he said.
Kay Harris, 32, said she was asleep when one of her family members called to say they thought her brother had been killed. He said he thought he was in London, a nightclub on 10th Street.
Harris said he has been to the club a few times and described it as a place for “the younger crowd”.
The police have closed the streets around the club, with the yellow police film waving with the breeze early in the morning. Harris says he spent the morning circling the square waiting for news.
“Very much an absurd act of violence,” he said.
