The latest development came on Tuesday, when police said they had arrested someone because “he is a banned person who was in possession of a firearm”. Police said they were seen holding a gun immediately after the shooting, but believe the gun was not fired at the hand-to-hand combat. He has not been charged with crimes directly related to the shootings, police said, and online detainee records show he was released on Tuesday. CNN contacted the ombudsman’s office. The other two men arrested are brothers – Dandrae Martin, 26, and Smiley Martin, 27 – who were taken into custody on Monday and Tuesday. The brothers are believed to be responsible for the crowd fire in the city center, according to Sacramento police officer Chad Lewis, although he only named Dandrae Martin. “He (Dandrae) was charged with assault with a firearm,” Lewis said Tuesday, but did not rule out the possibility of others shooting. “They could be more than the two shooters we already know,” Lewis said. Dandrae Martin was charged with felony criminal mischief. He made his first appearance in court on Tuesday, but did not speak. “This firearm was modified from its original condition with an accessory that enabled it to fire automatically and would be classified as a machine gun under California law,” Lewis said. Smiley Martin was at the scene of the shooting early Sunday with “serious gunshot wounds” and was taken to a local hospital, the Sacramento Police Department said in a press release. As soon as Smiley Martin’s medical treatment is completed, he will be held in Sacramento County Jail on a charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun, police said. The Martin brothers were among dozens injured in the shooting. Dandrae Martin’s next court date is April 26, when his bail is expected to be set. His lawyer, Linda Parisi, said Martin was “very melancholy” during their brief discussion, adding that he believed the response to gun violence should be more than just a case. “This is not just a matter of criminal justice and it is narrow-minded to say well all we have to do is deal with what happened in this case, to be dealt with through criminal justice,” he told reporters. “It’s bigger than that and we have to deal with it. People are suffering, all people. As I say, everyone is being touched by gun violence.” The Sacramento shooting was one of more than 120 mass shootings in the United States this year and one of at least 10 shootings over the weekend.
It may have been preceded by a shooting altercation
The shooting took place shortly after 2 p.m. PT in a busy downtown area, a few blocks from the California State Capitol, Sacramento City Hall and the Golden 1 Center, where the city’s NBA team plays home games. A video posted on social media appears to show a quarrel before the shooting, police said Sunday. “We are currently working to determine what, if any, these incidents have to do with the shooting,” the statement said. Search warrants were issued at three homes and at least one pistol was found, according to Sunday’s announcement, and authorities said they had received more than 100 video or photo files at a counseling portal. Detectives have since found “hundreds of pieces of evidence at the scene”, including more than 100 shells, police said in a press release on Tuesday. Investigators also found a stolen weapon that “turned out to be a weapon capable of firing automatically,” police said. At least three buildings and three cars were hit by bullets, according to police. “There were a lot of shootings that night, and hence the complexity of the investigation,” police chief Kathryn Lester told CNN’s KCRA subsidiary. Leicester said there were many gunmen and that a great battle had preceded.
The youngest victims were 21 years old
The Sacramento County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday identified the six victims who died:
Johntaya Alexander, 21 Melinda Davis, 57 Sergio Harris, 38 Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32 Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21 Devazia Turner, 29
During an emotional vigil Monday night, members of the Sacramento community and officials expressed frustration with repeated incidents of armed violence in the city and called for action to prevent further shootings. The shooting at the weekend was the second mass shooting in Sacramento in five weeks. On February 28, a man fatally shot three of his children and another man in a church. The gunman committed suicide, authorities said. Mayor Darrell Steinberg said solutions – not good wishes – were needed to help change the course of armed violence in America. “Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” he said. “It’s time to have a sensible debate (about) guns in America. We have a disease – it’s a disease in our country, it’s a disease in our culture.” Sacramento will continue to invest in programs that focus on early intervention and prevention of youth violence, he said. “In our city, we will take stock and do what we can – in terms of investment, in terms of public security, in terms of weapons – to protect the public,” Steinberg said. CNN’s Dakin Andone and Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report.
