FBI Arrests Suspect in Shooting at Sacramento News Station Who Was Freed on Bail

A man suspected of opening fire on a Sacramento news station’s offices on Sept. 19 faces multiple state and federal gun-related charges in what authorities described as a targeted shooting.

Anibal Hernandez Santana, 64, of Sacramento, was arrested by police that evening but posted bail and was released the next day.

Just hours later, the FBI arrested him, Director Kash Patel announced on X. He is again being held at Sacramento County Jail but now is ineligible for bail, according to inmate records.

A search of Hernandez Santana’s personal property revealed anti-Trump administration writings, an apparent reference to assassinated conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, and a calendar note to “do the next scary thing,” according to federal officials.

“Targeted acts of violence are unacceptable and will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law,” said Patel’s post on X.

Santana was scheduled to go before a judge on Sept. 22, when he will face multiple state and federal charges.

The FBI’s criminal complaint against Hernandez Santana charges him with possessing a firearm within a school zone, discharging a firearm within a school zone, and interfering with a radio communication station, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

If convicted on all counts, Hernandez Santana faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and $260,000 in fines.

The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office is also filing felony charges against him for discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling and assault with a semi-automatic firearm, among other charges.

If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of 17 years in state prison.

“When someone brazenly fires into a news station full of people in the middle of the day, it is not only an attack on innocent employees but also an attack on the news media and our community’s sense of safety,” Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said in a statement provided to The Epoch Times.

Ho said he planned to ask the judge to order the defendant held without bail on the charges.

On Sept. 19, Sacramento police responded to a report of shots fired just after 1:30 p.m. into the ABC10 building on Broadway.

“The building was occupied and fortunately, nobody was injured,” the police said in a statement provided to The Epoch Times.

The shooter fired once toward the news station and three times into the building.

Federal authorities say the shooter was first standing on the sidewalk around the block and fired a shot in the air in the station’s direction. Then he drove to the front of the station and fired three more shots into the lobby.

A news station employee was in the lobby at the time, but no one was injured. The first shot was fired from a spot within a school zone, prosecutors said.

Investigators found what they believed was the shooter’s vehicle, which led them to Hernandez Santana’s residence on Carson Drive. During a search of the home, they found a weekly planner on the refrigerator.

“Under ‘Friday,’ there was a handwritten note that stated, ‘Do the Next Scary Thing,’” prosecutors said.

Investigators also allegedly found a handwritten note in the suspect’s car that said: “For hiding Epstein & ignoring red flags. Do not support Patel, Bongino, & AG Pam Bondi. They’re next. –C.K. from above.”

Besides the FBI director, the references were to Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The initials were apparently a reference to Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept. 10 while speaking at an event on a university campus in Utah.

The day before the Sacramento shooting, the station was the scene of a protest over ABC’s decision to suspend production of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” over the late-night host’s remarks about Kirk’s fatal shooting, local media The Sacramento Bee reported.

Hernandez Santana’s attorney, Mark Reichel, told ABC10 his client spent only seven hours outside of jail before FBI agents arrested him at his apartment. According to Reichel, he was speaking to Hernandez Santana on the phone before he stepped outside and was arrested.

Reichel said he expected Trump and Bondi to pursue the case immediately.

“Of course, they’re going to grab it and try to bring it into federal court as soon as they can,” he said. “They’ve got somebody who’s an educated liberal who they believe shot at the buildings.”

A Facebook page apparently belongs to Hernandez Santana says he is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a former federal relations manager for the National Council of Urban Indian Health who studied law at the University of California in San Francisco and city planning at the university’s Berkeley campus.

Reichel was in court Sept. 22 and not available for comment before publication time.