Sacramento Shooting Involved At Least 5 Shooters, Rival Gangs: Police

SACRAMENTO, CA — Police suspect five shooters were responsible for the carnage in Sacramento over the weekend, and the gunfight may have been a shootout between rivals that caught bystanders in the crossfire.

The shooting early Sunday in Sacramento's crowded entertainment district left six people dead and 12 wounded. Police said Wednesday that evidence indicates at least five people traded gunfire between at least two groups of men. As investigators identify the shooters and guns involved, that number may climb, police said.

"As detectives learn more about the shootings, it is increasingly clear that gang violence is at the center of this tragedy," police said in the news release. "While we cannot at this time elaborate on the precise gang affiliation of individuals involved, gangs and gang violence are inseparable from the events that drove these shootings."

Chief Kathy Lester called the shooting a tragedy, and said it's a "very public example of what families in many of our neighborhoods know too well."

“The suffering inflicted by gang violence does not limit itself to gang members," Lester said in a statement. "It spills over to claim and shatter innocent lives and harm our entire community."

Investigators were pouring over hundreds of videos and photos.

One of the slain was Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, who reportedly appeared to be friends with brothers Smiley and Dandrae Martin, two men who were arrested and booked on gun charges after the shooting. Hoye-Lucchesi shared videos to Instagram hours before the shooting of him and others with weapons, including a gun with a red laser, The Times reported.

As Sacramento Patch previously reported, three people have been arrested and charged in the shooting to date, all on weapons or assault charges. No one has yet been charged with homicide.

Dandrae Martin, 26, was booked on assault and gun charges. Police identified him as a related suspect. Prosecutors later said he was not arrested for any related homicide, but the Sacramento Police Department told KXTV on Wednesday they believe he was one of the shooters.

Smiley Martin, 27, was taken into custody Tuesday and faces charges of unlawful gun possession and having a machine gun once his medical care is completed. Smiley Martin was wounded in the shooting and was to be booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail once he was deemed healthy enough for incarceration, police said.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press he had posted a live Facebook video of himself brandishing a handgun hours before gunfire erupted. Authorities were working to determine whether the weapon in the video was used in the shooting, said the official, who was briefed on the investigation but could not discuss details publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Investigators believed the Martins had stolen guns, and were working to review financial documents, call records and social media messages to determine how and when they obtained weapons, the official said. Authorities have searched several locations in connection with the shooting and the firearms investigation.

Smiley Martin has a criminal history dating to 2013, The Associated Press reported. He was released on probation from state prison in February after serving about half of a 10-year sentence for punching a girlfriend, dragging her from her home by her hair and whipping her with a belt, prosecutors said.

A Parole Board rejected his bid for early release in May after prosecutors said the 2017 felony assault — along with convictions for possessing an assault weapon and thefts — posed “a significant, unreasonable risk of safety to the community.”

Martin “clearly has little regard for human life and the law,” and displayed a pattern of criminal behavior since he was 18, a Sacramento County deputy district attorney wrote in a letter last year to the Board of Parole Hearings.

Daviyonne Dawson, 31, was the third man arrested in the shooting. He was charged with unlawful gun possession, though police said he was not currently charged with crimes directly related to the mass shooting.

"Based on the type of firearm recovered, detectives do not believe that this gun was used in the shooting," police said in a news release.

Detectives were searching for more suspects Tuesday, police said.