Sacramento mass shooting suspect arrested in Las Vegas
A suspect wanted in a downtown Sacramento gang-related mass shooting that left six dead was arrested Saturday at a Las Vegas apartment complex, according California authorities.
Mtula Payton, 28, was nabbed at his purported home in the 1300 block of East Hacienda Avenue, near Maryland Parkway, Sacramento police wrote in a news release.
Payton, who was taken in by a fugitive task force that comprises the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on an out-of-state fugitive warrant, jail logs show.
Six people — including three innocent bystanders — were killed when purported gang members got into a shootout in the early morning of April 3, Sacramento police Chief Kathy Lester previously said, noting that more than 100 spent bullets had been recovered in a large downtown crime scene.
Payton and brothers Smiley and Dandrea Martin, who also are in custody, are facing numerous charges, including three murder counts, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said.
Dozens of people were in the vicinity when the gunfight erupted, the prosecutor said.
Smiley Martin was accused of using a a handgun that had been illegally converted into a fully-automatic weapon, authorities said.
Payton, who is awaiting extradition to California, is due in court on Tuesday, Las Vegas Justice Court records show.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickytwrites.