‘A sickness.’ Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, City Council condemn epidemic of gun violence

Standing just two blocks from where six people were killed and another dozen injured in an early morning shooting, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and members of the City Council said the capital city had become the latest to be plagued by “a sickness” in America caused by gun violence.

“I’m heartbroken and I’m outraged,” Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, tears running down her cheek, told reporters gathered on L Street across from the state Capitol. “Our community deserves better than this.”

Steinberg said “thoughts and prayers are not nearly enough, we must do more, as a city, as a state and as a nation. This senseless epidemic of gun violence must be addressed.”

“This morning our city has a broken heart,” the mayor said. “This is a senseless and unacceptable tragedy.”

Valenzuela and Steinberg both said Sacrament­­o was not immune to the sort of gun violence raging across America’s cities.

“In what sane society do we allow the proliferation of assault weapons in the way we see being used indiscriminately not just in Sacramento, but in other parts of the country?” Steinberg said. “God, can we not have a sane debate where on one side of the line you say that people who want to use firearms for sport or for hunting or even for self defense on one side and on the other side of the line we say there is absolutely no place for rapid fire assault weapons anywhere, anyhow? Can we make that distinction? Obviously we can’t.”

Valenzuela said she got a phone call around 2:30 a.m. “that no elected official wants to get, a call that I’ve gotten too many times.” Valenzuela represents the central city on the City Council and told reporters “I hope it’s the last time that I ever see you when something like this happens on the streets of my district.”

Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, the longest-tenured member of the City Council, spoke next.

“Those calls are very challenging to get,” she said. “I’d like to tell (Valenzuela) it will be the last, but I’ve been here too long, so I know it wont be.”

Steinberg sought to calm fears that downtown Sacramento was too dangerous to visit. Golden 1 Center hosted large concerts Friday and Saturday, and the Kings were scheduled to host the Golden State Warriors on Sunday evening. There also were two performances of “Wicked” planned Sunday for the nearby SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center.

“Obviously, people look at this and say, ‘Oh my God, how dangerous is downtown?’” Steinberg said. “Well, we want people to come downtown and safely.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2022 at 12:41 PM.