At least six people were killed and 10 others injured in a shooting in the city of Sacramento, California, police confirmed on Sunday.

"We now have confirmed that we had six people killed ... additional 10 people were transported or self-transported to area hospitals," Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told reporters. 

Lester also asked the public to help "to identify the suspects in this and provide any information that you can to help us solve" the incident.

Police said they heard gun shots at around 2 a.m. local time (0900GMT) when they were patrolling the area. When the police arrived at the scene, they "located a large crowd" and "found that multiple people, unfortunately, had been shot and this is a really tragic situation," Lester said.

Meanwhile, Sacramento Mayor, Darrell Steinberg expressed "shock and sadness" over the deadly incident on Twitter.

"The numbers of dead and wounded are difficult to comprehend. We await more information about exactly what transpired in this tragic incident," Steinberg said.

"Rising gun violence is the scourge of our city, state and nation, and I support all actions to reduce it," he added.

There were 294 mass shootings in the US last year, the Gun Violence Archive reported, further noting that 20,694 people were killed as a result of gun violence. The majority of deaths -- 11,352 -- were suicide.

"Officers located at least 15 shooting victims, including 6 who are deceased. There will be a media staging area at 9th St/K St.," the Sacramento police said earlier.

In an advisory, they added: "Please avoid the area as a large police presence will remain and the scene remains active."/aa