SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Five people died, including three children, after a gunman opened fire in a California church Monday night.
BREAKING #Sacramento Church shooting: @sacsheriff PIO says this was not a random shooting this was very targeted.
— Madison Wade (@madisoncwade) March 1, 2022
Suspect took his own life.
The gunman, who took his own life, was the father of the three children, but the shooter’s relationship to the fifth victim was not immediately known, The Associated Press reported.
Update 9 p.m. EST March 1: The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified the victims as 10-year-old Samantha Mora Gutierrez, 9-year-old Samarah Mora Gutierrez, 13-year-old Samia Mora Gutierrez, and 59-year-old Nathaniel Kong, KCRA reported.
The gunman was identified as 39-year-old David Mora Rojas, the TV station reported.
Update 11:47 p.m. EST Feb. 28: Sacramento County Sheriff told reporters at the scene that the children’s mother was not involved in the incident and was speaking with authorities, The Sacramento Bee reported, noting that she had a restraining order against the father.
Jones stated that the father was at the church Monday night for a supervised visit with the children. The fourth victim has been identified as an adult who had been supervising the visit, but it was not immediately clear if that victim was a social worker or a church employee, the Bee reported.
“The shooter came in and — what appears to be — killed the person who was supervising the visit, killed his own three children and then turned the gun on himself,” Jones said.
Another senseless act of gun violence in America - this time in our backyard. In a church with kids inside. Absolutely devastating.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 1, 2022
Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and their communities.
We are working closely with local law enforcement.
Original report: Sgt. Rodney Grassmann, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed to The Sacramento Bee that the slain children were all under the age of 15.
The shooting stemmed from a domestic incident, Grassmann told the newspaper.
“This was not a random shooting,” he said, adding that the shooter and victims “all knew each other.”
Deputies responded to the shooting just after 5 p.m. local time at the church in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood, the AP reported.
According to the Bee, the shooting resulted in a large police presence in the area just south of The Church in Sacramento, but officials have not yet confirmed that the shooting occurred at that particular place of worship.
In a tweet urging people to avoid the area, Sacramento City Councilman Eric Guerra referred to the incident as a “mass casualty shooting” at a church.
🚨Please be aware and on the look out. Local law enforcement are responding to a mass casualty shooting event in the county at a church on 2041 Wyda way. Please be alert while in the area as local law enforcement responds. 🚨
— Eric Guerra (@EricZGuerra) March 1, 2022
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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