US vice president to visit California in wake of mass shootings

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Vice President Kamala Harris will soon visit California after a pair of mass shootings jointly left at least 18 people dead and devasted communities in the state.

President Joe Biden did not specify when or where Harris would be visiting but said he and his senior officials are working on "a number of things that we can and are going to be doing."

"Our hearts are with the people of California," the president said at the White House while hosting Democratic members of Congress. "We've got a lot to talk about."

Biden pointed in particular to a renewed assault weapons ban introduced in the Senate by California lawmaker Dianne Feinstein on Monday, urging Congress to send the legislation to his desk immediately so he can sign it into law.

The president earlier Tuesday afternoon spoke by phone with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to the White House.

Harris' looming visit comes after a series of shootings rocked the US' most populous state. Late Sunday, a 72-year-old gunman opened fire on a Lunar New Year celebration, killing 11 people and wounding nine others in Los Angeles county. The gunman in that shooting killed himself as police closed in during a manhunt the following day.

On Monday, a gunman in northern California carried out a series of shootings that left seven people dead. A 66-year-old suspect has been taken into custody.

California is Harris' home state, and in addition to being the US's first Black vice president, she is also the country's first Asian American to hold the post.