California – Police have launched a search and a wide-scale manhunt across Sacramento for multiple suspects after a mass shooting incident that left 6 dead and 12 injured.
The incident took place in the early hours of Sunday morning in the downtown area of Sacramento, California.
The police chief of Sacramento Katherine Lester stated “Investigators are working to identify those responsible for this horrific act. We know that a large fight took place just prior to the shootings. And we have confirmed that there are multiple shooters.”
Katherine Lester further stated that three women and three men died whereas the injured were rushed to the nearby hospitals for immediate medical treatment.
The coroner office is currently working on the identification of the deceased in order to notify the families of the dead.
Investigators started their investigation from the crime area by conducting interviews with a large number of witnesses along with locating evidence from the crime scene which also included a stolen handgun.
According to the reports, gunshots were heard approximately at 2 am near K street and 10th street when the officers quickly arrived at the crime scene only to witness people fleeing from the incident.
The officers discovered victims with multiple gunshots and a large crowd trying to disperse from the area.
“Officers began to give medical aid, including CPR, to the victims that they found and at the same time worked to stabilize the scene and learn what they could about the crime,” said Lester at the news conference.
The Sacramento police worked with the members of the Sacramento fire department and the California highway patrol at the scene. Lester stated, “all our agencies tried to save lives.”
The police stated in a statement that “We are currently working to determine what, if any, relation these events have to the shooting,”
Lester further stated, “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 their families.”
Darrell Steinberg, the Mayor of Sacramento called out the shooting incident as “a senseless and unacceptable tragedy” which left the capital city of California “a broken heart.”
“Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” he said. “It is beyond time to have a sane conversation about having guns in America. We have a sickness — it’s a sickness in our country, it’s a sickness in our culture.”
