SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A suspect is in police custody in connection with Sunday’s mass shooting in downtown Sacramento, which left six dead and 12 others wounded, police announced Monday.
Officers arrested Dandre Martin, 26, as a “related suspect,” the Sacramento Police Department said in a news release shortly before noon Monday. He was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail downtown on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and illegal firearms possession, police said.
Police Chief Kathy Lester had said Sunday afternoon that authorities confirmed there to be “multiple” shooters in the early morning shooting, which happened near 10th and K streets along a strip of crowded bars and clubs around closing time.
The department news release midday Monday did not specify how many suspects are still considered outstanding.
“As the investigation progressed, Sacramento Police Department SWAT and detectives served search warrants at three residences in the area,” the news release said. “During the execution of the search warrants, at least one handgun was recovered.”
Authorities had also located a stolen handgun at the shooting scene, Lester said Sunday.
The Police Department also in Monday’s statement said the numbers stand at six dead and 12 injured. All six deceased victims died at the scene early Sunday morning.
All 12 surviving victims have gunshot wounds, “ranging from minor to critical but stable,” the news release said.
A spokeswoman earlier Monday morning said two of four victims treated at UC Davis Medical Center spokeswoman had been released from the hospital. The other two remained in treatment as of 8:15 a.m. Their conditions were not disclosed.
Monday’s news release also said investigators found three buildings and three vehicles that had been hit by gunfire and over 100 expended shell casings at the scene. The department said it had received more than 100 photo and video files sent by witnesses to the community evidence portal set up Sunday.
Officers cleared crime tape and evidence markers early Monday morning in downtown Sacramento, reopening streets in the area of 10th and K streets a little more than 24 hours after the deadliest mass shooting in the history of California’s capital city.
Six died at the scene — three men and three women, Lester said. Twelve others others were transported or self-transported to hospitals with “varying” degrees of injuries.
Dead bodies stayed on the streets, covered, for more than 18 hours. Coroner’s officials removed at least three of them at about 8:30 p.m.
Lester said the bodies remained at the scene for so long in order to maintain the integrity of a sprawling, complex crime scene for an incident in which multiple suspects are still at large.
The three men killed were Sergio Harris, 38; DeVazia Turner, 29; and Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32.
The three women killed were Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office formally identified Harris Sunday evening, then released the remaining five victims’ names at 9 a.m. Monday.
Many details surrounding the shooting remain unknown, including whether the shooters fired indiscriminately or were targeting certain people or groups; exactly how many shooters opened fire; and what types of firearms may have been used. No suspect descriptions have been released.
Relatives of Harris and Turner said the men had been at a nightclub called London, which is located at the corner of 10th and J streets.
London in a statement posted to social media said it “enforces strict security protocols and begins closing procedures at 1:30 a.m.” and said it continues to cooperate with the police investigation.
A handwritten sign in London’s front window Monday morning read, “We regret to inform that our brunch has been postponed.”
Police Department spokesman Sgt. Zach Eaton said police believe there were “at least two shooters” involved, but did not know if any shots were fired inside any bars or nightclubs in the area.
Two of four shooting victims who were hospitalized at UC Davis Medical Center have been released.
A spokeswoman for the health system said Monday that two of the victims were discharged and two patients remain, but their conditions were not disclosed.
Several patients were transported to area hospitals, including UC Davis and Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento, while some patients self-transported to Sutter Medical Center and others.
Lester said a city surveillance camera captured a portion of the incident. That footage has not been made publicly available as of Monday morning.
Bystander cellphone video also surfaced online, some of which has been forwarded to authorities.
One of those videos, which the Police Department acknowledged it had received, showed a fight taking place outside a bar at 10th and K streets shortly before a stream of gunfire could be heard. The people fighting in the video began to scatter and run away as shots continued, including a trill of what sounded like an automatic weapon.
After Mayor Darrell Steinberg spoke out against assault weapons and homemade “ghost guns,” and called for increasing outreach and support for city youth, Lester clarified that police have not confirmed whether the incident involved ghost guns, nor whether it involved any juvenile suspects.
Steinberg and community leaders will hold a vigil for the shooting victims at 7:30 p.m. in Ali Youssefi Square, at 7th and K streets, the mayor’s office said in a statement.
Community activist Berry Accius will also speak at Monday’s vigil.
Other activists held an impromptu vigil near the scene Sunday night at Cesar Chavez Plaza.
Just hours after Sunday’s tragedy and within walking distance of the scene, life in downtown Sacramento continued with a remarkable air of normalcy. A masters 10-mile championship hosted by USA Track & Field pressed on that morning. Restaurants bustled with customers in outdoor dining areas by midday.
“Obviously, people look at this and say, ‘Oh my God, how dangerous is downtown?’” Steinberg said. “Well, we want people to come downtown, and safely.”
The NBA’s Kings proceeded with a home game Sunday evening, hosting the Golden State Warriors at Golden 1 Center. The contest opened with a moment of silence.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who for years has been an outspoken proponent for stricter gun control measures, spoke at length pregame.
“I know we’ll have a moment of silence before the game, and I think it’s the right thing to do to have a moment of silence, but I’ll be honest,” Kerr said. “It’s probably the ninth or 10th moment of silence I’ve experienced as coach of the Warriors when we mourn the losses of our people who have died in mass shootings, so I don’t think moments of silence are going to do anything.
“At some point, our government has to decide: Are we going to have some commonsense gun laws? It’s not going to solve everything, but it will save lives.”
The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Anderson, Benjy Egel, Ryan Lillis, Dale Kasler and Sam Stanton contributed to this report.
