California shooting: 5 killed, including three kids, inside church in Sacramento

Five people were murdered, including three children, after a shooter opened fire inside a church in Sacramento, California, on Monday evening. The children that died were the shooter's own children. They were all under the age of 15. The gunman shot and killed four individuals before turning the pistol on himself, according to Sacramento County sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Rod Grassmann. The identity of the fourth victim remained unknown at the time. Three girls, aged nine, ten, and thirteen, were among the casualties, according to Grassmann.

The event occurred in the main sanctuary of a church on Wyda Way in the city's Arden-Arcade neighbourhood. At roughly 5:07 p.m. local time, a church worker heard shots fired. He instantly exited the building and called the cops.  The shooter's identity was not immediately published, but he was 39 years old, according to officials. According to Grassmann, an employee of The Church In Sacramento heard the gunshots and phoned 911.

Police and rescue personnel raced to the site and roped off the area. The sheriff's office stated that the shooting is being investigated as a "domestic violence" incident. According to the sheriff, the children's mother is alive and has been in contact with authorities, and she has a restraining order against the gunman. 

According to the official, additional people were present in the church throughout the event, but none of them were involved. The majority of the others were staff or congregants, and no one else on the site required medical attention, he noted. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is looking into the situation. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed his condolences for the victims' deaths, calling the tragedy "another tragic act of gun murder in America."

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• California
• mass shooting
• Sacramento
• church
• crime
• pistol