A suspect in the Sacramento shooting that killed six people over the weekend had been released from prison in February, and prosecutors described him as having “little regard for human life.”
Police said Smiley Martin, 27, was among those wounded in a hail of gunfire near the California state Capitol at 2 a.m. Sunday as people left bars in the area.
Mr. Martin was arrested on charges of suspicion of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun, according to The Associated Press.
The wire service said Mr. Martin posted a Facebook clip of himself brandishing a handgun hours before the attack and police were trying to determine if it was used in the attack, which might have been sparked by a street fight outside a nightclub.
Mr. Martin was released in February after serving two years of a 10-year prison sentence for punching his girlfriend, dragging her by her hair and hitting her with a belt, according to the AP, which said he could have been released last year but prosecutors warned he posed a risk to the community.
He “clearly has little regard for human life and the law,” a prosecutor told the parole board.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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