At approximately 2:00 a.m. on April 3, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in downtown Sacramento, California, near 10th Street and K Street, close to the California State Capitol and the Golden 1 Center. Six people were killed—three men and three women, ranging in age from 21 to 57—and twelve others were injured. Police said a fight preceded the shooting, and multiple shooters were involved. Damage was caused to at least three buildings and three vehicles, and 114 spent cartridges were recovered at the scene.
Injured victims were treated at UC Davis Medical Center and Sutter Medical Center; several were discharged within a day. Police closed a multi-block area of downtown Sacramento immediately after the shooting and asked the public to avoid it; the area reopened the following day. The ATF assisted the Sacramento Police Department in the investigation. Two handguns were recovered from the scene, one of which had been reported stolen.
In the days following the shooting, police arrested several individuals. Dandrae Stephan Martin was arrested on suspicion of assault and firearm-related offenses, including possession of a firearm by a prohibited person; he was described by police as a "related suspect" rather than someone arrested on homicide charges. His brother, Smiley Allen Martin, was arrested and later charged with possession of a machine gun after a Glock 19 modified for automatic fire was found at the scene and determined to have been fired during the shooting. Smiley Martin had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison for domestic violence in 2018 and was released in February 2022. A third man, Daviyonne Dawson, was arrested with a firearm not believed to have been used in the shooting; he was released after posting $500,000 bail and was not charged in connection with the shooting itself. A fourth suspect, Mtula Tashamby Payton, was identified on April 12 and later arrested in Las Vegas on May 28.
Police stated they believed at least five shooters were involved and described the shooting as gang-related, citing ties between one side and the Crips and the other side and the Bloods. Court documents indicated that three of those killed were involved in a gang dispute and that at least one of them had fired a weapon. On May 3, Smiley Martin, Dandrae Martin, and Payton were charged with murder in the deaths of three named victims—Johantaya Alexander, Melinda Davis, and Yamile Martinez-Andrade—who were considered bystanders. They were not charged with murder for the deaths of the three other individuals killed, who were believed to have been participants in the gunfight. Smiley Martin died in jail on June 8, 2024; an autopsy attributed his death to an accidental drug overdose.
The shooting prompted public reaction, including calls from President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom for stricter gun control measures, local investment in downtown lighting and security, and community vigils held at Cesar Chavez Plaza.
Credit: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s OfficePublic domainSourceSOLVEDListen
