Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr gave a long response to the Sacramento shooting that killed six and wounded 12 others on Sunday.
“It’s devastating news,” Kerr said before Golden State’s game against the Sacramento Kings. “I didn’t know about it until this morning, when I woke up. First and foremost, just thinking about the city of Sacramento, and all the families who are affected. The victims, the survivors, the people that were injured. Just so many lives devastated. So everyone with the Warriors, we all share in your city’s grief.”
“I know we’ll have a moment of silence before the game,” Kerr continued. “I’ll be honest, I think it’s the right thing to do to have a moment of silence, but I’ll be honest it’s probably the ninth or 10th moment of silence that I will have experienced as the coach of the Warriors when we mourn the losses of people who have died in mass shootings,” an emotional Kerr said before the game. “I don’t think moments of silence are going to do anything. At some point, our government has to decide, are we going to have some common sense gun laws? It’s not going to solve everything, but it will save lives.”
“Several years ago, the House passed a background check law — HR8 — sponsored by Mike Thompson, a congressman here in Napa,” Kerr added. “It passed the House with bipartisan support, never made it to the light of day in the Senate. Despite the fact that 80 to 90% of Americans support background checks and you know, you think about all of the common sense laws we could and should put in place.”
“If we had any guts, if our government had any guts, if people put others in front of their own career paths, you know, in front of their own reelection campaigns, in front of their own propaganda to manipulate people. It’s right there in front of us.”
Steve Kerr gave a long, thoughtful answer in response to last night’s tragic mass shooting in Sacramento pic.twitter.com/2VD5LWj7ck
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 3, 2022
On Monday, one suspect was taken into custody by Sacramento police and charged with assault with a firearm and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, according to KCRA 3 Sacramento. Per The Daily Wire’s policy, the name of the suspect will not be published.
Police Chief Kathy Lester told KCRA 3, “As you know this is a complex investigation and we’re looking for multiple suspects and so we’re currently working to identify what his role was the night of the shooting.”
Sacramento Kings head coach Alvin Gentry also weighed in, saying the “accessibility” to guns had to change.
“The gun thing has to change,” Gentry told reporters. “The accessibility to guns in general, but especially automatic weapons. And this is my own personal opinion. It’s a sad day. It’s a really sad day. I hope this is not something our city is remembered for because it’s a great place with a lot of great people that live here.”
“Obviously, we wish the families and everybody well,” Gentry added. “And we’ll continue to have everybody in our prayers.”
Coach Alvin Gentry offers his condolences and thoughts on today’s mass shooting in downtown Sacramento. pic.twitter.com/ILaSm1CnUn
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) April 4, 2022
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].