SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Downtown Sacramento, where thousands reside and millions visit each year, has seen its share of live entertainment, tourists, buzzy nightlife, city employees — and violence.
The shooting on K Street that killed six people, which authorities say stem from a gang dispute, is the worst shooting in the city's history in terms of deaths and injuries. It's not the only act of violence the city's center has seen recently.
In 2018, a shooting in a downtown parking garage near Seventh and K streets killed two men and wounded two others. The fatal incident happened in the early morning, similar to the recent shooting, when the nightclubs began to clear out.
Last summer, two people were shot and killed in Old Sacramento, including a 16-year-old boy.
In the midst of gunfire are stabbing incidents. In October 2021, a man was found wounded from a stabbing on Sacramento's K Street Mall around 1 a.m. Then, in March on the same street, a boy was stabbed in Downtown Commons, a shopping district near the Golden 1 Center where Justin Bieber was finishing up a live concert.
But downtown Sacramento is not the only one confronting violence on an increasing basis. Other cities in the nation are, too.
The Bee looked at how other cities — including San Jose, Orlando and Kansas City, Missouri — responded after recently experiencing high-profile shootings:
SAN JOSE'S GUN LIABILITY INSURANCE
Early this year, San Jose became the first city in the country to approve a law that requires gun owners to have liability insurance coverage for their firearms. The San Jose City Council also levied an annual gun harm reduction fee.
Firearm owners in the city must pay this fee and the money will go towards violence reduction, suicide prevention and gun safety programs, and mental health services for those affected by gun violence.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo proposed the measures in the summer of 2021 after a deadly mass shooting at the Valley Transportation Authority light rail yard killed nine people. According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, the gunman, who fatally shot himself after the rampage, was found with two semiautomatic handguns.
"The two components of this initiative — requiring liability insurance and the investment of gun fees into violence-reduction programs — utilize long-established public health approaches to reducing harm in other contexts," Liccardo said in a news release.
ORLANDO'S S.A.F.E. PROGRAM
In January, the Orlando City Council in Florida set in motion a $500,000 plan called Safety Awareness For Everyone, or SAFE, to help downtown businesses upgrade their security systems.
According to WESH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Orlando, the program was started after a series of shooting events in the downtown area. In 2021, seven people were wounded from two separate shootings during Halloween weekend in downtown Orlando. A veteran was also shot and killed in downtown, too.
These shootings are a bitter reminder of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting that killed 49 people in Orlando, one of the deadliest mass shooting in the United States.
Under the SAFE program, entertainment businesses such as bars, venues and night clubs can apply for funding to install security systems. This includes identification scanners, cameras and metal detectors. Other properties in the area can get funding for security cameras only.
The program also funds increased police presence downtown.
KANSAS CITY'S METAL DETECTORS
In the Westport entertainment district in Kansas City, Missouri, people entering the popular nightlife area have to enter the pedestrian-only street through metal detectors — much like they would at a sporting event or concert.
Detectors were installed in 2018 to keep guns, ammunition and other firearms out of the area during warmer months, when violence typically increases.
April through October on Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., patrons must be screened before entering the hub of bars, shops and restaurants. This includes emptying pockets, opening purses and bags, and walking through a metal detector.
Kim Kimbrough, the executive director of the Westport Regional Business League, said these security programs were planned after the area experienced violent incidents in 2017.
In a city with 150 homicides that year, The Kansas City Star reported three in Westport — two shootings and a stabbing.
But the safety measures weren't implemented until after shootings in the bar district in 2018.
According to The Star, Westport has faced a string of shootings since 2018
But Kimbrough said that since the these protocols have been in place, weapon offenses — when someone brandishes a firearm threateningly or discharges one — have decreased dramatically in the area.
The security screenings at the bar and dining district continue with added metal detectors in 2019 and more checkpoints in 2020.
"The goal here is to keep people safe and let them have a good time in doing so," Kimbrough said. "It's not foolproof but so far, for four seasons that we've done it ... it has worked really well."
WHAT IS SACRAMENTO IS DOING?
To stifle the ongoing violence, city officials approved plans in 2021 and early January to spend part of the city's federal funding, allocated to help local businesses and communities recover from COVID-19, to revitalize downtown and Old Sacramento.
The plans included making improvements to streetlights, pedestrian level lighting and lights in private buildings. It also outlined installing about 19 security cameras at top locations where there is high foot traffic in the Old Sacramento area and providing security services.
Downtown Sacramento Partnership, an organization that works for the advancement of downtown, has been working with the city and police to ensure the area's safety as a part of the plans.
Dion Dwyer, director of public space services at the partnership, said that they are also using the funding to pay for private security guards and unarmed patrol to oversee the Downtown Commons area, and J, K and L corridors. These guards will come out at 6 p.m., after the partnership's downtown guides are off duty.
In yellow and black uniforms, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership's guides are typically patrolling downtown streets, helping visitors and keeping an eye out for criminal activity.
Dwyer said the organization plans to implement the additional security starting next month through the summer. They are also meeting police to discuss staffing and other necessary measures.
On Wednesday, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced that he wants Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders to invest in community-based crime prevention.
HOW HAVE DOWNTOWN CLUBS RESPONDED?
As downtown prepares for its first weekend after the April 3 shooting, many wonder if it's safe to return to the area and stay out late with a friend at a downtown bar or nightclub.
Dive Bar at 1016 K St. sits near where Sunday's gunfight occurred. The bar told The Sacramento Bee through social media messages that they would be implementing additional safety measures, but wouldn't provide details.
"We are still dealing with the impact the event had on our staff, we feel for the community and we won't pretend to imagine what the victims' loved ones or even the survivors are dealing with," Dive Bar said.
Bob Simpson, owner of Social Nightclub at 1000 K St. and several other nightlife spots in the area, said in a text to The Bee that while none of the club's guests were involved or injured in the shooting, the club is working closely with police to implement "any additional measures that they recommend."
"Social has always implemented the strictest and tightest safety measures at its venue for the enjoyment of its guests," Simpson said. "Social also closes 35 minutes earlier than its neighboring businesses allowing our guests to safety disperse."
In a Monday statement on social media, London Nightclub on 10th Street, where some of the victims had been that night, said that each night it enforces "strict security protocols."
"We at London Sacramento are praying for the families of the victims that were impacted by the incident that occurred near 10th & K streets. As we continue to process this horrific act, we would like to emphasize that each night, London Sacramento enforces strict security protocols and begins closing procedures at 1:30 a.m. While this incident occurred a block away, we will continue to make ourselves available to the Sacramento Police Department and provide any information we can during their investigation. Our prayers are with the affected families and we continue to grieve with the Sacramento community."
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(Reporter Benjy Egel contributed to this story.)
