March against gun violence planned in Sacramento, one week after gang shootout killed 6
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and other local leaders, activists and community members will walk in a march against gun violence Sunday downtown, one week after the worst shooting incident in the history of the capital city.
Marchers will meet at 10:30 a.m. and begin marching at 11 a.m. from Ali Youssefi Square, at 7th and K streets — three blocks west of where six people were killed and 12 others wounded a 2 a.m. volley of gunfire broke out at just as bars and nightclubs were reaching closing time around 2 a.m.
Berry Accius, a community activist and head of the local Voice of the Youth mentoring program, is organizing Sunday’s march, which Mayor Darrell Steinberg promoted in a Friday blog post and said he would join.
“Gun violence is a city problem, a city issue,” Accius said last Sunday in the immediate wake of the shooting. “Old Sacramento, downtown Sacramento. .... People are supposed to be going out, having fun.”
Sacramento police on Wednesday announced that investigators have determined last weekend’s incident was a gang-related shootout between at least two groups of men involving at least five total shooters. The exact gang affiliations of those involved have not been confirmed by authorities.
Three men and three women were killed, and a dozen others were taken or self-transported to hospitals, all with gunshot injuries.
Residents have mourned the deceased in several formal and informal vigils over the past five days.
“Please join us in responding to last weekend’s terrible events with love and a commitment to comfort the suffering and elevate and enhance our efforts to provide more hope and opportunity for young people,” Steinberg wrote in his blog post.
Three suspects have been arrested in connection with Sunday’s shootings, each of them on charges related to firearms possession. None of them as of early Friday had been charged with firing weapons or with homicide.
