(CNN) — Police arrested a third suspect in connection with a mass shooting in downtown SacramentoCalifornia, this weekend that left six people dead and a chaotic crime scene littered with more than 100 shell casings.
The suspect was taken into custody for “being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm,” police said. The 31-year-old man was seen carrying a gun immediately following the shooting, police said, but they believe the gun was not fired in the melee.
Earlier Tuesday, Smiley Martin, 27, was taken into custody. He was found at the scene of the shooting early Sunday with “serious gunshot wounds” and taken to a local hospital, the Sacramento Police Department said in a news release. Police “promptly identified” him as a “person of interest” and kept him under police supervision at the hospital, according to the statement.
According to police, Smiley Martin is the brother of Dandrae Martin, a suspect arrested Monday in connection with the shooting. The deadly incident, which also left 12 people injured earlier Sunday, is one of more than 120 mass shootings in the United States this year and one of at least 10 shootings over the weekend.
Once his medical care is complete, Smiley Martin will be booked for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun, according to police.
“That firearm was modified from its original condition with a component that made it capable of automatic fire and would classify it as a machine gun under California law,” Sacramento police officer Chad Lewis said at a news conference. press on Tuesday.
Dandrae Martin, 26, who was identified as a “related suspect,” appeared in court Tuesday but pleaded not guilty.
The hearing has been postponed until April 26 because police have not yet provided an incident report, defense attorney Linda Parisi said.
Martin is being held without bail, which may be set at the next hearing.
He was booked on charges of assault and illegal possession of firearms, according to police, but the only official charge for now is possession of a firearm.
Parisi said he has very limited details regarding the incident and is awaiting more information from prosecutors.
His client was “very somber” during their brief conversation, Parisi said, adding that he feels the response to gun violence should be bigger than a case.
“This is not just a criminal justice issue, and it’s limiting to say, ‘Well, all we have to do is address what happened this time, get it processed through the criminal justice (system)'” he said. he told reporters. “It’s bigger than that and we need to address it. People are suffering, all the people. Like I say, everyone is affected by gun violence.”
Sacramento County Prosecutor Anne Marie Schubert said in a statement posted online that Martin, 26, has not been charged with murder. She said that she believes authorities will end up arresting more people.
“The investigation is very complex and involves many witnesses, numerous videos and significant physical evidence,” Schubert said. “This is an ongoing investigation and we anticipate further arrests in this case.”
Evidence markers are seen on April 3, 2022 at the scene of a mass shooting in Sacramento, California.
How the shooting unfolded
The shooting occurred shortly following 2:00 am in a bustling area of downtown, just blocks from the California State Capitol, Sacramento City Hall and the Golden 1 Center, where the NBA team of the city plays
A video posted on social media appears to show an altercation before the shooting, police said in a statement. “We are currently working to determine what, if any, relationship these events have to the shooting,” the statement said.
People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of a fatal shooting in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday, April 4, 2022.
During the initial investigation, detectives found more than 100 shell casings. Investigators also located a stolen pistol, police said, which “was found to have been converted into a weapon capable of firing automatically.”
Police have said they can’t rule out gang violence, but detectives are still trying to determine the exact motive and whether any victims were targeted specifically.
Police said at least three buildings and three cars were hit by bullets.
“There were a lot of shots fired that night, hence the complexity of the investigation,” Police Chief Katherine Lester told KCRA. CNN affiliate.
Lester has said that there were multiple shooters and that a huge fight ensued before the shooting. A stolen gun was among hundreds of pieces of evidence found at the scene, he said Sunday.
Police said they had issued search warrants at three homes and at least one firearm had been recovered. The authorities have reported that they have received more than 100 video and photo files on a notice portal.
Young victims up to 21 years old
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office identified the six victims on Monday who died:
– Johntaya Alexander, 21
— Melinda Davis, 57
— Sergio Harris, 38
– Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32
— Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21
— Devazia Turner, 29
The tragedy has shattered the families of the victims, shocked the community and angered those frustrated by another mass shooting.
“My son was a very lively young man,” Harris’ mother, Pamela Harris, told CNN affiliate KOVR. She said that her son smiled all the time and never bothered anyone.
“And for this to happen, it’s crazy,” he said. “And right now I’m at a point where I don’t know what to do. I don’t even think this is real.”
The second mass shooting in Sacramento in recent weeks
The incident was the second mass shooting in Sacramento in the last five weeks. On February 28, a man fatally shot three of his children and another man in a church. The gunman took his own life, according to authorities.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg said solutions, not wishful thinking, are needed to help change the trajectory of gun violence in America.
“Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” he said. “It’s regarding time we had a sensible conversation regarding guns in America. We have a disease – it’s a disease in our country, it’s a disease in our culture.”
He said Sacramento will continue to invest in programs focused on early intervention and youth violence prevention.
“In our city, we will take stock and do everything we can — on the investment side, on the public safety side, on the gun side — to protect the public,” Steinberg said.
Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement saying “the scourge of gun violence remains a crisis in our country. We must end this carnage.”
And President Joe Biden called Sacramento “another community devastated by gun violence” and called on Congress to act on gun control measures.
“In a single act in Sacramento, six people have been killed and at least a dozen others injured,” Biden said in a statement. “Families forever changed. Survivors who have to heal wounds both visible and invisible.”
CNN’s Susannah Cullinane, Holly Yan and Stella Chan contributed to this report.
