A 26-year-old man taken into custody by Sacramento police in connection with the mass shooting on Sunday that left six dead and 12 wounded appears to have been posting on Facebook about the incident just hours after it occurred.
Dandrae Martin is facing charges of assault with a firearm and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, the Sacramento PD announced in a news release. (An initial news release incorrectly spelled Martin’s name as Dandre.)
He has not been charged with murder, but police said they were still sifting through information. “As you know this is a complex investigation and we’re looking for multiple suspects, and so we’re currently working to identify what his role was the night of the shooting,” Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told local NBC affiliate KCRA on Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Prior to his arrest, a Facebook account in Martin’s name, which identified the user as being located in Sacramento, was tagged by numerous friends who were posting about the Sunday night carnage on their pages.
Shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday morning, a post on Martin’s page said, “Smh I’m hit…” Multiple relatives and other associates asked Martin to contact them, with others wishing him luck. Soon after his arrest was announced, members of the public began flooding the comments section.
Martin also appears to be an aspiring rapper, who uses the name “Dredamacc” on Youtube. On a Soundcloud account, he went by Dremacc and said he was from Sacramento and Phoenix.
One video on his YouTube, for a song called “Speaking on Me,” opens with a still photo of a man holding a semi-automatic handgun. Another song, “Cuttin up,” has a photo of a man holding a rifle.
Monday’s arrest was not Martin’s first brush with the law. In 2014, he was convicted of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, according to court records reviewed by The Daily Beast. In 2016, he was convicted on state charges in Arizona for aggravated assault and domestic violence by impeding breathing, and was convicted two years later on one count of criminal damage in addition to a marijuana violation, The Sacramento Bee reported. He was also being held Monday on an outstanding warrant from Riverside County, according to the outlet.
Two public defenders who have represented Martin in past cases were not immediately available for comment on Monday afternoon. Martin does not yet have a lawyer listed in court filings related to the Sacramento case.
Sunday’s shooting occurred around 2 a.m. amid a fight between a group of revelers outside a downtown bar. Lester said multiple shooters opened fire but it remains unknown as to whether they knew each other. A law enforcement source told the Sacramento Bee that the shooters are suspected to be gang members.
There was a large crowd of people in the area when the shots rang out, Lester said, but investigators don’t know if the gunplay kicked off at a club or another event.
The six victims were identified by the Sacramento County Coroner as Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; Johntaya Alexander, 21; Devazia Turner, 29; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; Sergio Harris, 38; and Melinda Davis, 57.
Police found a stolen handgun at the crime scene and more than 100 bullet casings, and at least three vehicles were hit by gunfire.
Officers from the Sacramento Police Department SWAT team and detectives executed search warrants at three homes in the area, cops said.
Sergio Harris’ mother, Pamela Harris, told reporters at the scene that her son was a “very vivacious young man.”
“Fun to be around, liked to party, have fun, smiling all the time, didn’t bother people,” she said. “For this to happen...it’s crazy. I’m just to the point right now I don’t know what to do. I don’t even think this is real. I feel like it’s a dream.”
Pop duo Aly and AJ said on Twitter that their tour bus was “caught in the crossfire but we sheltered in place and everyone in our touring group is ok.”
“Distraught by the mass shooting last night outside the venue in Sacramento,” the posting said. “All of our thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives and those recovering today. We’re praying for the health care workers caring for them. We hope all our fans made it home safe.”
In a statement, Sacramento County DA Anne Marie Schubert said that for the victims’ loved ones, “the sunlight never looks the same for them.”
After the shooting, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Twitter, “Yet another mass casualty shooting—leaving families with lost loved ones, people injured, and a community in grief. We are working closely with law enforcement to monitor the situation. We cannot continue to let gun violence be the new normal.”
And the Sacramento Kings dedicated a moment of silence before their Sunday night game to those who died and their families.
The incident on Sunday was Sacramento’s second mass shooting so far this year. In February, David Mora, 39, shot and killed his three young daughters and a court-appointed chaperone before taking his own life during a supervised visit at a local church.
