LAST UPDATE | 4 Apr 2022

SACRAMENTO POLICE HAVE announced an arrest connected with the shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others in the heart of California’s capital city.

Police said they arrested Dandre Martin, 26, as a “related suspect” on assault and illegal firearms charges.

Detectives and Swat team members found one handgun during searches of three homes in the area.

The arrest came as the six victims killed were identified in the shooting that occurred on Sunday around 2am as bars were closing and patrons filled the streets near the state Capitol.

The Sacramento County coroner identified the three women killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.

The three men killed were Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and Devazia Turner, 29.

The burst of rapid-fire gunshots from at least two shooters sent people running in terror. Twelve were wounded in the neighbourhood just a few blocks from Golden One Arena, where the NBA’s Sacramento Kings held a moment of silence before their game on Sunday night.

Detectives were trying to determine if a stolen handgun found at the crime scene was connected to the shooting, Police Chief Kathy Lester said. She pleaded with the public to share videos and other evidence that could lead to the killers.

“The scale of violence that just happened in our city is unprecedented during my 27 years here,” Lester told reporters during a news conference at police headquarters.

“We are shocked and heartbroken by this tragedy.”

Of the 12 wounded, at least four suffered critical injuries, the Sacramento Fire Department said. At least seven of the victims had been released from hospitals today.

At the scene where the chaos erupted, small memorials with candles, balloons and flowers sprouted from the pavement. One balloon had a message on it saying in part: “You will forever be in our hearts and thoughts. Nothing will ever be the same.”

Streets were reopened to car and foot traffic and police tape had been removed. Aside from a handful of TV cameras, there was little indication on the downtown block of the previous day’s bloodshed.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and other city officials decried escalating violence in the city while also urging people to keep coming downtown for events like NBA games and performances of the Broadway musical Wicked.

“We can never accept it as normal and we never will,” Mr Steinberg said of the shooting. “But we also have to live our lives.”

The gunfire erupted just after a fight broke out on a street lined with an upscale hotel, nightclubs and bars and police said they were investigating whether the altercation was connected to the shooting.

Video from witnesses posted on social media showed rapid gunfire for at least 45 seconds as people screamed and ran for cover.

Yesterday’s violence was the third time in the US this year that at least six people have been killed in a mass shooting, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.

And it was the second mass shooting in Sacramento in the last five weeks.

President Joe Biden called for action on gun crimes in a statement on Sunday.

“Today, America once again mourns for another community devastated by gun violence,” Biden said. “But we must do more than mourn; we must act.”