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April 4 (UPI) -- Authorities on Monday announced a suspect has been arrested in connection with a weekend mass shooting in Sacramento that killed six people and sent a dozen more to the hospital. Sacramento Police said Dandrae Martin, 26, was arrested as a suspect in the shootings, which began about 2 a.m. Sunday amid reports of several gunshots blocks from the California State Capitol.
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Martin was arrested and booked for assault and illegal firearm possession charges following the execution of search warrants at three residences in the city, police said in a statement.
At least one handgun was recovered during the searches.
The Sacramento County Coroner's office named those killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; and Devazia Turner, 29.
Of the 12 people taken to area hospitals, police said their injuries ranged from minor to "critical but stable."
Authorities said they received more than 100 video and photo files of the shooting, adding that the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office "will be reviewing all related evidence in this investigation to determine appropriate charges."
Many details surrounding the incident remained hazy on Monday. Police couldn't immediately say if the shooters had targeted certain groups or people or if the violence was indiscriminate, while the type of firearms used remained unknown.
Investigators said video that circulated on social media appeared to show a fight on a crowded sidewalk before the gunfire. They're asking any others who might have video to bring it forward.
"We know that a large fight took place just prior to the shootings and we have confirmed that there are multiple shooters," Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told reporters in a news conference Sunday night. "We have located hundreds of pieces of evidence at the scene."
One of the items found at the scene was a stolen handgun, Lester said. Police surveillance video captured parts of the shooting and the department has received multiple tips.
Police were at the scene "almost immediately" and started life-saving measures on victims while trying to stabilize the scene, Lester said. The victims were all adults -- three men and three women.
"The scale of violence that just happened in our city is unprecedented during my 27 years here in the Sacramento Police Department," Lester added at the news conference. "We are shocked and heartbroken by this tragedy, but we are also resolved as an agency to find those responsible."
Lester said the shooting is the "biggest and most recent example" of a growing gun violence crisis in the California capital.
President Joe Biden, whose administration has proposed varying gun control efforts, said the shooting demonstrates why such policies are needed.
"America once again mourns for another community devastated by gun violence," Biden said in a statement. "In a single act in Sacramento, six individuals left dead and at least a dozen more injured. Families forever changed. Survivors left to heal wounds both visible and invisible."
The president urged Congress to "act" and ban so-called "ghost guns," which are unserialized and unregulated weapons that can be bought online and assembled at home without a background check. He also called for mandating background checks for all gun sales.
"But we must do more than mourn; we must act," he said. "Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Repeal gun manufacturers' immunity from liability. Pass my budget proposal, which would give cities more of the funding they need to fund the police and fund the crime prevention and intervention strategies that can make our cities safer."
