Joe Biden calls for new gun laws in wake of massacre in Sacramento that killed six

Joe Biden has called for new gun laws hours after a shooting outside a Sacramento bar that killed six people, with police still on the hunt for at least two gunmen.   

‘Ban ghost guns,’ the president said Sunday. ‘Require background checks for all gun sales. Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.’

Biden, 79, thanked the first responders in the city and then noted that it was likely they weren’t the only victims of gun violence across the country last night, saying America needed to do something about it. 

‘We equally mourn for those victims and families who do not make national headlines,’ he said in a statement. ‘But we must do more than mourn; we must act.’

He cited his administration’s work implementing gun reforms, including attempting to stop those trafficking firearms, plus expanding funds for police.  

He also implored them to pass his 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.’

His statement came as the bodies of four of the victims are still lying on the street in 80f weather 15 hours after the massacre that killed six took place. 

Harrowing DailyMail.com photos show the body of one of the male victims and the foot of a second on the floor outside Pre Flite Lounge – one of two bars where a huge brawl kicked off in the minutes before the shooting happened.

Cheryl Keyes, 58, who lives above the bar told DailyMail.com that the foot belonged to a woman who was lying on the street next to him, but largely out of view.

She said the bodies of a further two victims were also still on the street below her home and had been there all day, in spite of temperatures that topped out at 80f.

It is unclear why the bodies have been left on the street all day. The area is still cordoned-off due to the ongoing police investigation, and DailyMail.com has contacted Sacramento Police Department for further information. 

Distraught Keyes said: ‘Those are people’s sons and daughters lying out there. I have six kids of my own and I can’t imagine how I’d feel if that were them.’

A total of six people died in the 2am attack, three men and three women. The police are yet to officially confirm the identities of the victims but two of the dead have been named as Sergio Harris, 38, and DeVasia Turner, 29.

The body of a man lies on a sidewalk in downtown Sacramento Sunday, next to the remains of a woman. Those corpses lay there for at least 15 hours in 80f weather as cops probed the shooting in the early hours of Sunday 

The female victim’s foot can be seen just above the pink item of clothing. Six were killed in Sunday’s shooting – three men and three women, with two victims so-far identified 

Sergio Harris, left, and DeVazia Turner, right have been named as two of the six people killed during a mass shooting outside a Sacramento bar in the early hours of Sunday 

Cheryl Keyes, whose apartment overlooks the scene of the shooting, said four bodies were lying on the ground outside her home 

Other DailyMail.com photos show how the destruction spans two city blocks, with markers indicating that more than 250 shots were fired.

Bloody cloths could still be seen littering the ground outside London, a popular Sacramento bar, while at the far end – across the street from the California State Capitol – the families of the victims waited for news.

Most were too distraught to speak with DailyMail.com but Eunice Appling, whose cousin is Sergio Harris, 38, said she was devastated.

Appling, who was at the scene when the shooting happened, told DailyMail.com that her overwhelming memory was of ‘blood’.

The multiple stitched up cuts on her forehead were, she said, caused when she tripped up while trying to get away.

Keyes told DailyMail.com she had spent time with Harris earlier that evening and said: ‘We had been there chatting and at the end he started calling me ‘aunty’.

‘He was a good guy. I never thought something like this would happen to him.’

Police are still searching for ‘multiple’ suspects, believe at least two guns were fired and recovered a stolen handgun at the scene. 

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show upwards of 220 spent shell casings found lying on the ground around the scene of Sunday morning’s shooting, which is believed to be gang-related

A cloth covered in what appears to be dried blood lies close to two shell casings in downtown Sacramento 

Shattered glass lies on the sidewalk hours after Sunday morning’s shooting in Sacramento. Multiple suspects who used a machine gun are still on the loose, with 12 injured 

A worried loved-one checked her phone for updates in the wake of Sunday’s shooting 

A police source told the Los Angeles Times that the shooting involved gang members and associates.  

Harris had been out at the London nightclub before the shooting, his wife Leticia said Sunday. The couple have three children together.

Leticia and Harris’s mom Pamela Harris both combed the streets for information about their missing loved one before being given the bad news after his remains were discovered.

The women were seen sobbing after being informed of Harris’s death. Speaking before learning of her son’s fate, Pamela told NBC Bay Area: ‘We just want to know what happened to him. Not knowing anything is just hard to face.’

Turner’s father Frank told CBS Sacramento that his son had been out drinking at a bar on K Street around the time of his death. 

Six people were killed and 12 were injured in a mass shooting in California’s capital city early Sunday morning as a gunman with an automatic rifle opened fired on a group of revelers fighting outside a bar.

Harris’ wife Leticia (center) and mother Pamela (right) weep after being informed that he was one of six killed in Sunday morning’s shooting 

Sacramento police said shots rang out near 10th and J Streets, about two blocks from the capitol building, around 2am, prompting officers to rush to the scene.

Frank said the news of his son’s tragic murder had been broken brusquely by cops.

He said: ‘They [police] didn’t tell me nothing. They just confirmed that he’s a body over there.’ 

Turner’s mom Penny also told of how she’d received a call in the early hours of Sunday morning breaking the news of her son’s tragic death.  

When police arrived to the area, known for its strip of nightclubs and bars, they found a large group gathered and six dead in the street. Ten other victims were transported to area hospitals by ambulance and private vehicles. Their conditions remain unknown. 

Police Chief Kathy Lester, noting the investigation is still ‘very preliminary,’ said it is unclear if the victims were deliberately targeted, The Sacramento Bee reported. 

Lester, calling the shooting ‘a really tragic, unfortunate situation,’ said the ‘complex is now secure’ but the gunman remains at large. She has asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect or suspects responsible for the tragedy. 

‘We are asking for the public’s help,’ she said. ‘If anyone saw anything, has video or can provide any information to the police department, we are asking for their assistance.’ 

At least six people were killed and ten injured after shots rang out in California’s capital city early Sunday morning, Sacramento police confirmed

Sacramento police said shots rang out near 10th and J Streets, about two blocks from the capitol building, around 2am. A gunman with an automatic rifle opened fired on a group of revelers fighting outside a bar

Police said the investigation is still ‘very preliminary’ and it is unclear if the victims were deliberately targeted

Police work the scene on the corner of 10th and L street of a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours on April 3, 2022 in Sacramento

Public Safety News, an independent media agency that responded to the scene, reported that shots were fired around 2am, shortly after last call for bars in the area. 

There are ‘victims all over the corner,’ a PSN journalist said in a Facebook live report. 

Witnesses reported seeing a person in a car pull out an automatic weapon and begin shooting into a crowd gathered outside the El Santo Restaurant & Ultralounge. 

Multiple ambulances responded to the scene as paramedics provided CPR and other treatment to victims on the sidewalks while authorities ushered crowds of people to safety.

Leticia Fields-Harris, who believes her husband Sergio Harris, 38, died in the mass shooting is seen crying near at the crime scene on Sunday morning

Family members of victims are seen embracing each other at the scene of Sunday’s mass shooting

The shooting took place in the area of 10th and J Streets, not far from the state capitol building

At least two videos circulating on social media captured sounds of shots fired.

Bystanders told California-based reporter Malik Earnest they heard more than fifty shots ring out before the gunman’s vehicle screeched away from the chaotic scene.

One of the videos shows multiple people fighting on the sidewalk as rapid gunfire strikes, prompting people to run through the streets. 

Berry Accius, of Sacramento’s Voice of the Youth, told KXTV he arrived to the ‘chaotic’ scene around 2.30am. 

Police officials investigate the scene dotted with bullet casings after a mass shooting in downtown Sacramento

Witnesses reported seeing a person in a car pull out an automatic weapon and begin shooting into a crowd gathered outside the El Santo Restaurant & Ultralounge 

A gunman with an automatic rifle opened fired on a group of revelers fighting outside a bar

A police vehicle is seen after an early-morning shooting in a stretch of the downtown near the Golden 1 Center arena in Sacramento

‘A lot of victims with blood, just watching some of the families that didn’t know if their loved one was alive, running, trying to figure out what was happening, people distraught, people discombobulated,’ Accius said. ‘It was just horrific.’

‘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.” 

The community activist also recalled a mother running up to the scene, asking: ‘Where’s my son, has my son been shot?’  

Accius said the area, which is known for its nightlife, should’ve been a safe space. 

‘I’m just shocked that somebody would come here to a place where it should be safe and do something as heinous as this with multiple victims, not only just shot but dead in our city,’ he added. ‘Right here in downtown, in a safe space.’  

Police have asked members of the public to share any information and photos or video footage captured at the scene

A police officer ties barricade tape at the crime scene after an early-morning shooting in a stretch of downtown near the Golden 1 Center arena in Sacramento

Police are seen after an early-morning shooting in a stretch of the downtown near the Golden 1 Center arena in Sacramento

Authorities search area of the scene of a mass shooting with multiple deaths in Sacramento early Sunday morning

Paramedics provided CPR and other treatment to victims on the sidewalks while authorities ushered crowds of people to safety

Kay Harris, a Sacramento resident, said she was asleep when one of her family members called to say they thought her brother had been killed. He had reportedly gone out to London, a nightclub located on 10th Street.

‘Very much so a senseless violent act,’ she told the Associated Press. 

Harris, 32, said she has been to the club a few times and described it as a place for ‘the younger crowd.’ 

California Governor Gavin Newsom, in a statement Sunday, described the shooting as ‘yet another horrendous act of gun violence’ in the state.

His administration is working with law enforcement ‘as we monitor the situation.’

Bystanders comfort each other at the scene after a mass shooting in downtown Sacramento

A sheet is used to block the view as the body of one of victims killed in a mass shooting is loaded into a coroner’s van

Members of the Coroner’s Office prepare to move one of the victims from the scene after a mass shooting in downtown Sacramento

‘What we do know at this point is that another mass casualty shooting has occurred, leaving families with lost loved ones, multiple individuals injured and a community in grief,’ Newsom said. ‘The scourge of gun violence continues to be a crisis in our country, and we must resolve to bring an end to this carnage.’

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg offered his thoughts to the community, while also promising that Lester has made battling gun violence a ‘top priority’.

‘Words can’t express my shock & sadness this morning. The numbers of dead and wounded are difficult to comprehend. We await more information about exactly what transpired in this tragic incident,’ he tweeted.

‘Rising gun violence is the scourge of our city, state and nation, and I support all actions to reduce it. Our new Police Chief, Kathy Lester, has made it a top priority, and I stand firmly behind her.’  

California leaders have spoken out against gun violence in wake of the shooting

Sacramento City Council member Katie Valenzuela took to Twitter early Sunday morning to issue her support for the community amid the tragedy.

‘Around 2.30am, I got the call no elected official wants to get. Another shooting. More lives lost,’ she wrote. 

‘The national gun violence epidemic has hit our community – again. I won’t release any specifics until @SacPolicedoes. Until then, please take care of each other.’ 

‘Horrified and deeply saddened by the gun violence we witnessed this morning in Sacramento,’ echoed U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, of California.

‘My prayers are with the victims and their families — and the entire Sacramento community. Our team is continuing to monitor the situation closely as we await further updates.’

Authorities did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. 

Officers are investigator after 16 were struck by gunfire in downtown Sacramento around 2am Sunday

Emergency vehicles line the street near the scene of a mass shooting with multiple deaths in Sacramento on Sunday morning

Authorities have taped off the popular nightlife area while they conduct their investigation