Sacramento, Apr 4 (IANS): At least six people were killed and 12 others injured during a mass shooting in California's capital city of Sacramento, police said.

Addressing the media on Sunday, Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said that the shooting broke out earlier in the day after a large fight in downtown and killed three men and three women, reports Xinhua news agency.

But she did not release any details about the suspect or a possible motive.

Nearby buildings were hit by gunfire and a stolen handgun was recovered at the scene, Lester said, adding that the investigators suspected that multiple shooters were involved in the tragic incident.

According to her, police patrolling the area heard gunfire at about 2 a.m.

When police arrived at the scene, they found a large crowd gathered on the street and began lifesaving measures to multiple victims on scene, however six victims were pronounced deceased at the scene.

A video aired local KCRA 3 news channel showed young men grappling each other first in a street followed by the sound of gunfire.

KCRA 3 said they counted 76 gunshots in this video and called the incident as the worst shooting in the city's history.

Lester also issued a plea to the public at the press conference, asking for witnesses or anyone with recordings of the incident to contact police.

Gun violence has been on the rise across the US in the past few years, fuelled by multiple factors, from the economic and social disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to the unrest during the 2020 elections, as well as a surge in gun sales.

More than 17,000 people have died or been injured due to gun violence in the country so far this year, during which America has seen at least 110 mass shootings, according to a database run by the non-profit research group Gun Violence Archive.