6 dead, 12 wounded in mass shooting in California's capital city

LOS ANGELES, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Sacramento Police Department confirmed Sunday afternoon that six adults were killed and 12 other people were injured in a mass shooting early morning in the capital city of California.

The authority agreed that gun violence is truly a crisis in the local community and has been rising not only in Sacramento but across the nation.

Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told a press conference that the shootings broke out after a large fight in downtown, and killed three men and three women. But she did not release any details about the suspect or a possible motive.

Nearby buildings were hit by gunfire and a stolen handgun was recovered at the scene, Lester said, adding that the investigators suspected that multiple shooters were involved in the tragic incident.

According to her, police were patrolling the area at about 2 a.m. local time (0900 GMT) when they heard gunfire. When police arrived at the scene, they found a large crowd gathering on the street and began lifesaving measures to multiple victims on scene. However, six victims were pronounced deceased at the scene.

In a video showed by local KCRA 3 news channel, some strong young men grappled with each other first in a street, then sound of gunfire could be heard in background. As the crowd of people running through the street, screams could be heard as they ran to safety.

KCRA 3 said they counted 76 gunshots in this video and called the incident as the fatalist shooting in the city's history.

Danni Chisick, a guest slept in a hotel near the scene, told KCRA 3 that she awoke to the sounds of gunfire, and when the shots stopped she realized that it was not just a little shooting.

Sergio Harris, a 38-year-old father of three, was one of the six people killed in the incident. His mother confirmed the bad news to KCRA 3, saying "for this to happen is crazy. I'm just to the point right now, I don't know what to do. I don't even feel like this is real. I feel like this is a dream."

Sunday's shooting, called by California Governor Gavin Newsom as "another horrendous act of gun violence," triggered a fury against the gun crimes in the local community.

"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," Newsom said in a statement, "The scourge of gun violence continues to be a crisis in our country, and we must resolve to bring an end to this carnage."

Sergio Harris' wife Leticia Harris also spoke to KCRA 3, saying "this is a sad and terrible act of violence that took the lives of many. I want answers, so I can have closure for my children."

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg called gun violence "a sickness" and tweeted that "Rising gun violence is the scourge of our city, state and nation, and I support all actions to reduce it."

"We must do more, as a city, as a state and as a nation. This senseless epidemic of gun violence must be addressed," he noted.

Gun violence has been on the rise across the United States in the past few years, a trend fueled by a confluence of factors, from the economic and social disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to the unrest during the 2020 elections, as well as a surge in gun sales.

More than 17,000 people have died or been injured due to gun violence in the United States so far this year, during which the country has seen at least 110 mass shootings, according to a database run by the nonprofit research group Gun Violence Archive.

On Sunday evening, U.S. President Joe Biden responded to the shooting in a statement, calling for banning ghost guns, or unregistered firearms, requiring background checks for all gun sales, and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

However, some argued that Washington should trail the gun violence problem from roots.

Retired Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn called Sunday's shooting an "all too familiar tragedy," and noted that people must address the root causes and "come together with solutions to stop repeating cycles of violence."