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Police arrest 2 brothers in connection with Sacramento's deadliest mass shooting

People attend a candlelight vigil to mourn for the death of mass shooting victims at a park on Sunday in Sacramento, Calif.
Liu Guanguan
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China News Service/Getty Images
People attend a candlelight vigil to mourn for the death of mass shooting victims at a park on Sunday in Sacramento, Calif.

Updated April 5, 2022 at 10:40 AM ET

Police in Sacramento, Calif., have arrested a second man in connection with a weekend shooting downtown that killed six people and wounded 12 others. It is the deadliest mass shooting in the city's history.

The 27-year-old, identified by police as Smiley Martin, was found at the scene of the Sunday morning shooting with what police described as "serious injuries from gunfire."

While hospitalized, he remains under police supervision. He was taken into custody Tuesday morning and charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun.

Martin has a criminal history dating back to 2013, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday. He was recently serving a 10-year prison sentence for domestic violence and assault with great bodily injury when he was released despite a plea last year from the Sacramento County District Attorney's office advising otherwise, the Bee reported.

The two suspects are related

On Monday, police announced another arrest in the shooting — Martin's brother.

Dandrae Martin, 26, was charged with assault and illegal firearm possession.

A person passes a memorial near the location of a mass shooting in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday. Multiple people were killed and injured in the shooting a day earlier.
Rich Pedroncelli / AP
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AP
A person passes a memorial near the location of a mass shooting in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday. Multiple people were killed and injured in the shooting a day earlier.

Other than the two arrests, police have released only small details about what transpired early Sunday. Investigators are seeking information from the public on other suspects and what, exactly, happened.

The shooting followed a large fight

The gunfire erupted near the corner of 10th and K streets, close to the California State Capitol, around 2 a.m., police said.

Cellphone videos circulating online captured a fight among a large crowd of people on a sidewalk in the area of the shooting. The footage shows people running for their lives as the first shots ring out, followed by dozens more shots. It's not yet known how that fracas might be linked to the shooting.

Police work the scene on the corner of 9th and K street after a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours on Sunday in Sacramento, Calif.
David Odisho / Getty Images
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Getty Images
Police work the scene on the corner of 9th and K street after a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours on Sunday in Sacramento, Calif.

The police have asked the public to submit any videos or photos through the department's evidence portal to help them find anyone who played a part in the shocking crime.

In a Tuesday morning update, Sacramento police said they were poring through 170 video and photo files that the public submitted.

Mourners hold vigils to honor the victims

At least two vigils were held several blocks apart in Sacramento on Monday, one day after the deadly shooting.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg, speaking at one of the remembrances, said the national spotlight was on Sacramento for the moment, according to Capital Public Radio.

"So if we can lift our voices as we have over these last couple of days to decry the senseless violence and the sickness that exists in our country around the proliferation of assault weapons... that indiscriminately kill and injure, we will lift our voices to do so," Steinberg said.

Mourners held photos of Melinda Davis, a 57-year-old unhoused woman who was killed in the shooting, and lit candles for Sergio Harris, a 38-year-old victim.

Jackie Henderson, who said he was Harris' cousin, criticized city and community leaders for not doing more to prevent gun violence, the station reported.

"The last time we had a mass shooting, you did the same thing, sat out here, held up our candles... How are you here for us if we're sitting here doing the same damn thing again?" he said.

The victims have been identified

Local authorities released the names of the six people killed in the melee. According to CapRadio, they are:

  • Johntaya Alexander, 21
  • Melinda Davis, 57
  • Sergio Harris, 38
  • Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32
  • Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21
  • Devazia Turner, 29
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