1 killed, 4 wounded in shooting outside Sacramento nightclub

One person was killed and four were wounded in a shooting early Monday outside a nightclub in downtown Sacramento, police said.

Police Chief Kathy Lester told the Sacramento Bee that authorities received a call about shots fired shortly before 2 am on Monday after a club let out patrons.

The four wounded people were taken to hospitals and reported in stable condition, police said. The fatal victim was identified by the coroner's office as Gregory Grimes, police said.

Authorities released very little information about the shooting and asked witnesses to come forward with any additional information and to submit possible video evidence.

“What we know now is very limited,” Lester said.

Grimes was a 31-year-old former football star from Inderkum High School and Boise State University. He had returned to coach at the high school after college and last year started a staffing company, the Bee reported.

His mother, Deborah Grimes, told the newspaper that her son was killed leaving the Mix nightclub and she doesn't believe he was targeted.

“He's never been in the streets or anything, he doesn't have that kind of background,” she said, adding he was looking forward to celebrating the July 4 holiday with his 4-year-old son. “You just would never think that someone like him would be murdered. He just doesn't fit a profile of a troublemaker or anything like that."

She added: “I can't explain how devastating this is right now."

Police did not immediately disclose any information about a suspect or suspects.

It was Sacramento's second shooting in the city's downtown area this year. Six people were killed and 12 wounded in an April shooting between rival gangs.

In that shooting, 100 shots were fired as people left bars and nightclubs in the downtown area, which is just blocks from the Capitol.

Three men have been arrested and charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of three bystanders, the Bee recently reported. No charges have been filed in the deaths of the three other victims, who police say were involved in the dispute.

Sacramento, which is home to half a million people, has been striving to revitalise its downtown but the area has been rattled by rising crime.