Biden calls for tighter gun laws after Sacramento shooting leaves six dead

4 April 2022, 14:19 | Updated: 4 April 2022, 14:32

President Joe Biden has called for updated gun laws after six people died and 12 others were injured in a shooting in Sacramento, California.

Biden called for a ban on "ghost guns, assault weapons and high-capacity magazines", said buyers should be subject to "background checks", and called for "gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability" to be repealed.

He said "America once again mourns for another community devastated by gun violence" and added that "we must do more than mourn" as he called on Congress to "act".

"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," he said in a statement on Sunday.

Sacramento police are searching for multiple suspects thought to be involved in the shooting, which took place early on Sunday morning.

At least six people, among them three men and three women were killed in the attack. It was not immediately clear whether the other victims had sustained life-threatening injuries.

Video posted on Twitter showed people running through the street as the sound of rapid gunfire could be heard in the background. Video footage also showed multiple ambulances had been sent to the scene.

Witnesses reported seeing a person in a car pull out an automatic weapon and begin shooting into a crowd gathered outside a restaurant and lounge in the city.

Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference that police were patrolling the area at about 2am when they heard gunfire.

When they arrived at the scene, they found a large crowd gathered on the street and six people dead. A further 10 people either took themselves to hospitals or were transported there.

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"Officers began to give medical aid, including CPR, to the victims that they found and at the same time worked to stabilise the scene and learn what they could about the crime," Chief Lester said on Sunday.

"Investigators are working to identify those responsible for this horrific act. We know that a large fight took place just prior to the shootings. And we have confirmed that there are multiple shooters."

Chief Lester said the coroner's office were working to identify and notify the next of kin of the victims, adding police had secured hundreds of pieces of evidence including a stolen handgun.

"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 their families."

Residents were asked to avoid the area, which is packed with restaurants and bars leading to the Golden One Centre, where the Sacramento Kings play basketball. Berry Accius, a community activist, said he had arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting.

"The first thing I saw was like victims. I saw a young girl with a whole bunch of blood in her body, a girl taking off glass from her, a young girl screaming saying, 'They killed my sister'. A mother running up, 'Where's my son, has my son been shot?'", he said.

Kay Harris, 32, said she was asleep when one of her family members called to say they thought her brother had been killed. She said she thought he was at London, a nightclub at 1009 10th Street. Ms Harris said she had been to the club a few times and described it as a place for "the younger crowd".

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Police have closed the streets around the club.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the shooting had left the Californian city with "a broken heart" and described it as "a senseless and unacceptable tragedy".

"Thoughts and prayers are not enough," he said. "It is beyond time to have a sane conversation to have guns in America. We have a sickness - it's a sickness in our country, it's a sickness in our culture."