Sacramento Police said Monday that gang violence led to a fatal shooting within a crowd gathered outside a Midtown bar after a Second Saturday Art Walk.

Police presence was stepped up Saturday, and for the first time, officers enforced the 10 p.m. curfew for minors, which coincides with the art event's official closing time. But the killing early Sunday has pressed city and business leaders to find additional ways to address growing concerns rather than end the popular event.

On Saturday, 20 Sacramento police officers and at least eight undercover officers from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control worked to combat underage drinking and public partying or "tailgating," said Sacramento Police Captain Dana Matthes.

The shooting took place at about 12:13 a.m. Sunday on the sidewalk outside Streets of London Pub, 1804 J St. Officers were inside the bar and at both ends of the block when the shooting occurred.

Words were exchanged between about 10 people from two gangs before gunfire broke out. The victim, Victor Hugo Perez Zavala, 24, was not a gang member. But one of the three others who were shot — two men and a woman — is in a gang, police said.

"This was in fact a gang confrontation," said Matthes, who asked for tips to help police find the suspect. He is described as an African American male with shoulder-length dreadlocks, who is 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, aged 18 to 21 and weighing 180 to 200 pounds.

About 30 community leaders including Mayor Kevin Johnson and City Councilman Steve Cohn, whose district includes Midtown, met Monday afternoon to discuss the shooting and other concerns about the art walk at the MARRS Building. The building at 1050 20th St. and its neighboring bars and art galleries have become the epicenter for Second Saturday Art Walk crowds.

The building's owner, Mike Heller, has helped build the Midtown scene after renovating the former state agency building and has energized the block on Second Saturdays with live music. Heller was among those at the meeting.

Johnson vowed to commit even more police officers to Second Saturdays and to refocus on a regional gang problem and the same kind of "late-night youth violence" that closed down Thursday Night Market on K Street Mall more than a decade ago. The city must have "zero tolerance" for violence, he said.

"We are outraged as a city by the shooting," Johnson said at a 3:30 p.m. press conference.

Johnson announced plans to create a task force to study the issues and compare best practices used in other cities to address problems, such as the growing number of people under 18 in the crowd. One possibility would be to assign gang unit officers to identify gang members at the event, and the city could consider banning gang members, Matthes said.

Second Saturday has grown largely because Midtown is a mixed-use neighborhood where people can walk easily from art galleries to businesses, Cohn said.

"We're not going to let this kind of youth violence end Second Saturdays," he said.

Business and property owners, local residents and art lovers have complained in recent months about growing crowds, public drunkenness, garbage, graffiti and other vandalism — especially near bars — during the monthly art walk.

Reports that a J Street church has been vandalized on Second Saturday could not be confirmed. But a neighboring state agency building, its parking lot and the alley get more garbage, vomit and window damage on Second Saturdays, managers said.

Some art galleries such as the Sacramento Art Complex and the Kennedy Center have begun holding "Premiere Thursdays," just before Second Saturdays to offer an alternative for people who want to focus on art, rather than go out for a night on the town.

"That's when we get the more serious collector in," said Sacramento photographer Alister Oliver, a resident artist at the art complex. "It's not the college kids. It's not the drunks."

In 2007, the high-end Solomon Dubnick Gallery became the first tenant in the MARRS Building. Soon after at Second Saturday events, two small paintings were stolen right off the walls, and a $16,000 ostrich sculpture was stolen outside.

Crowds swelled from 500 at a previous location to 1,500 to 2,000 those nights. The gallery stopped offering free wine or champagne and hired two security guards after just one month of Second Saturdays, said co-owner Michael Solomon.

"It was crazy. We went through 12 cases of champagne (in a night), and I don't believe we sold any art," he said. "It was too expensive, if nothing else. And we felt abused, giving away alcohol."

The gallery has since moved to a building Solomon owns at 1017 25th St., mainly to avoid having to pay rent in this economy. Gallery owners now offer private catered receptions for regular clients.

A laptop computer was stolen at the Kennedy Center one Saturday. But artists like Michele Fisher are very supportive of the event. She sells smaller, less-expensive art those nights, anything from $40 rings to $800 statues, she said Monday outside the gallery.

"It's when most of us make most of our money," she said.

As many as 20,000 people from throughout the region have been drawn to Midtown for the event. Second Saturdays have been very lucrative for many restaurants and bars.

"It's great to hear the mayor say we're not going to give this up," Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth said. "This is a late-night problem. It's not a Second Saturday problem."

Business owners including Olivia Coelho, co-owner of Bows & Arrows resale shop, say Second Saturday is the biggest sales day each month.

"Without the revenue generated on Second Saturday, we would struggle to pay our rent," she said at the press conference.

Second Saturday photo by David Barton. Other photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.