Police have arrested a man suspected of shooting into the lobby of Sacramento’s ABC affiliate on Friday.
Though the shooting occurred just a day after protesters gathered outside to the station to condemn ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talkshow, Sacramento police said the motive in the case remained under investigation, with it not being immediately clear whether the gunfire was targeted or random.
Anibal Hernandez Santana, 64, faces counts of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building, and negligent discharge of a firearm after his arrest in the case, Sacramento police said in a statement early Saturday.
Shots were fired at ABC10, whose call letters are KXTV, just after 1.30pm Friday, police said. Officers spotted at least three gunshots into the window but said it was unclear whether they had been directed at the station building.
The building was occupied at the time, but “fortunately, no one was injured”, said the Sacramento police’s public information officer, Anthony Gamble, during a news conference.
Authorities confirmed that the gunshots appeared to have been fired from a vehicle. They asked witnesses with any information regarding the investigation to contact the Sacramento police’s dispatch center.
Police said they arrested Hernandez with the help of the FBI after linking him to a car suspected of having been used to shoot at the station. He was arrested in Sacramento’s River Park neighborhood, which is in the north-eastern part of the city.
On Thursday, video footage taken by the Sacramento Bee showed protesters gathered outside the ABC building, demonstrating against the suspension of Kimmel’s show after his commentary about the Trump administration’s response to the 10 September shooting death of far-right commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
The protesters held up signs like “fight back”, “you’re next” and “first amendment”, referring to the part of the US constitution that guarantees US citizens the right to free speech.
“What happened with Jimmy Kimmel yesterday really caused a lot of concern for our free speech rights,” one of the protesters told the Bee.
ABC10’s corporate owner, Tegna, issued a statement saying all of its employees were “safe and unharmed” after Friday’s gunfire.
“While details are still limited … we are fully cooperating with law enforcement and have taken additional measures to ensure the continued safety of our employees,” the company’s statement said.
The shots fired at the Sacramento news station came a week after authorities found a bomb had been placed under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City, Utah. The bomb didn’t detonate, but two men were arrested and could face charges of illegal weapon possession as well as threats to terrorism.
