Police in Sacramento, California, said that 6 people were killed and 12 others were injured in a shooting in the city early Sunday morning.

The city police said, through its account on Twitter, that the shooting took place in the area of ​​​​10th Avenue in central Sacramento, noting that the area was closed and that it had begun an investigation with survivors and eyewitnesses.

Police indicated that more than one person participated in the shooting, but the suspects are still at large.

Police Chief Cathy Lister did not provide information on any suspects, or the motive behind the shooting, which took place a few blocks from the state Capitol.

"We know there was a major fight right before the shooting, and we've confirmed that there were a number of shooters," Lister told a news conference.

She added that the shooting took place at about 2 am Pacific time, near the Golden 1 Center, where the Sacramento Kings basketball team plays its games, and where concerts are held.

BREAKING: Mass casualty incident in #Sacramento #California following gunfire pic.twitter.com/6WBZv99oZC

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According to a number of media outlets, the fight broke out outside the "London" nightclub, which opened in 2019.

Several videos circulated on social media, and their authenticity could not be verified, showed a quarrel in which several people participated, followed by shooting, while witnesses spoke to local media about hearing automatic weapons shots.

The incident comes just over a month after a man shot and killed his three children and a fourth person before committing suicide in the same city.

This incident is added to a series of mass shootings in the United States, where firearms were used in 40,000 deaths annually, including suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Firearms violence is a widespread problem in the United States, where gun control activists say the high prevalence of guns and relatively lax laws lead to a recurrence of this type of incident.

Three-quarters of all homicides in the United States are committed with weapons, and the number of firearms sold continues to rise.

More than 23 million firearms were sold in 2020, and 20 million in 2021, according to data collected by Small Arms Analytics.

In June 2021, 30% of American adults said they owned at least one gun, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.