SACRAMENTO, April 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a fatal mass shooting early Sunday morning in Sacramento, California. The shooting, which is the deadliest in the city’s history, killed six people and left at least twelve others wounded.
The Sacramento Police Department said it arrested 26-year-old Dandrae Martin and charged him with assault and illegal firearm possession following an overnight investigation. Police described him as a “related suspect,” but did not offer any additional detail about his alleged involvement.
“As you know this is a complex investigation and we’re looking for multiple suspects and so we’re currently working to identify what his role was the night of the shooting,” Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said.
Martin was being held without bail in the Sacramento County Main Jail on the weapons charge and a separate count of assault with a deadly weapon.
According to local newspaper Sacramento Bee, records of Riverside Superior Court in Southern California showed Martin had a 2014 conviction for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse. He also has 2018 convictions in Maricopa County, Arizona, for a count of criminal damage and a marijuana violation, as well as 2016 conviction of aggravated assault and domestic violence by impeding breathing.
Police previously said at least two people opened fire in the downtown district as people streamed out of closing bars. Video showed people on the scene sprinting away from the gunfire. Sacramento police said preliminary processing of the scene indicated that at least three buildings and three vehicles had been hit by gunfire, and more than 100 shell casings were recovered from the area.
When announcing Martin’s arrest, police did not provide any information on the search for other suspects — though they said search warrants had been served at three residences and “at least” one handgun had been recovered.
The Sacramento County Coroner on Monday identified the six people killed in the shooting as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; and De’vazia Turner, 29.
The twelve victims injured in the shooting remain hospitalized. Police said their conditions range from minor to critical but stable.
Lawmakers across the country, including President Joe Biden, used the incident to call for gun control and reform.
“We know these lives were not the only lives impacted by gun violence last night. And we equally mourn for those victims and families who do not make national headlines,” Biden said in statement Monday. “But we must do more than mourn; we must act.”
Investigators previously said they were reviewing video shared on social media of a large fight that broke out right before the gunfire, but it’s not yet clear if it was related to the shooting. — NNN-AGENCIES
