Police in California are searching for at least two gunmen who opened fire in Sacramento’s entertainment district on Sunday, killing six people and wounding 12.
Crowds filled the streets as bars and nightclubs were closing in the state’s capital city when the sound of rapid-fire gunshots sent people running in terror.
In a matter of seconds, the latest US mass shooting had left six people dead.
Sacramento police said they were searching for at least two people who opened fire at about 2am.
Police chief Kathy Lester gave few details from the investigation and asked people 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,” Ms Lester told reporters during a news conference at police headquarters.
“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 the families.”
We are aware of a social media video that appears to show an altercation that preceded the shooting. We encourage any community members with related video to follow the link/QR code below to submit the video to SPD. https://t.co/bQBuBtDM8m pic.twitter.com/pPdrHVkKuX
— Sacramento Police (@SacPolice) April 3, 2022
Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg and other city officials decried escalating violence in the city while also urging people to keep going into the city centre 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 upmarket hotel, nightclubs and bars, but police said they did not know if 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.
The gunfire startled sleeping guests at the Citizen Hotel, which included a wedding party and fans of the rapper Tyler the Creator, who performed at a concert hours earlier.
From her window on the fourth floor of the hotel, 18-year-old Kelsey Schar said she saw a man running while firing a gun. She could see flashes from the weapon in the darkness as people ran for cover.
Ms Schar’s friend, Madalyn Woodward, said she saw a girl who appeared to have been shot in the arm lying on the ground. Security guards from a nearby nightclub went to help the girl with what looked like napkins to try to stop the bleeding.
Police found a stolen handgun, but they did not know if it had been used in the shooting.
The dead were three men and three women.
Sunday’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.
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 Sunday.
“Today, America once again mourns for another community devastated by gun violence,” Mr Biden said. “But we must do more than mourn; we must act.”
On February 28, a father killed his three daughters, a chaperone and himself in a Sacramento church during a weekly supervised visitation.
David Mora, 39, was armed with a homemade semiautomatic rifle-style weapon, even though he was under a restraining order that prohibited him from possessing a firearm.
