WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Sacramento police were searching for a gunman after six people were killed and 10 wounded Sunday in a mass shooting in the heart of downtown Sacrament.
Sacramento Police Chief Katherine Lester said the shooting occurred around 2 a.m. in a bustling entertainment district that was filled with people. She said officers heard shots and arrived at the scene at 10th and K streets.
“They found multiple people had unfortunately been shot,” she said. “This is a really tragic situation.”
The officers rendered aid to victims, she added.
A motive for the shooting was unclear, and Lester said police were not sure whether it was tied to any event going on at the time.
A video provided to KCRA-TV showed a large group of people fighting on a street before shots rang out. Other images on social media showed a large number of ambulances.
Lester called it a complicated crime scene and urged any witnesses to reach out to Sacramento police, including anyone with video.
Sacramento police say the shooting occurred near 10th St. and J St. in downtown Sacramento, near the State Capitol.
A witness told ABC10 that he heard multiple shots fired and ran for cover.
“I just saw victims, victims with blood all over themselves running out with glass all over themselves. Their loved ones taking their last breath. It was hectic. It was crazy,” said community activist Berry Accius in an interview with the Sacramento Bee.
“Words can’t express my shock & sadness this morning. The numbers of dead and wounded are difficult to comprehend. We await more information about exactly what transpired in this tragic incident,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said on Twitter.
“Rising gun violence is the scourge of our city, state and nation, and I support all actions to reduce it,” he added.
The incident comes a month after another shocking act of violence in the city.
On February 28, a man killed four people, including three of his children, before turning the gun on himself inside a church in the Sacramento suburbs.
The killings took place during a supervised visit between the father and his children inside the church.