Nine people have been injured after gunfire erupted at a teenagers’ party in Jasper County, Texas.
The shooting early on Sunday took place at a private residence where some 250 Jasper High School students had gathered after their annual prom dance.
The victims, who have not been publicly named, ranged in age from 15 to 19. All are recovering from their wounds at two local hospitals.
Police have not yet made any arrests and are requesting the public’s help.
“All we know is some kids ganged up after prom to have a night they could remember the rest of their lives, and somehow it got twisted, a bunch of children got shot,” Jasper County Sheriff Mitchel Newman said on Sunday. (BBC)
He said investigators were speaking to students who attended the party, including several persons of interest, but no motive for the incident had yet been identified.
Gunfire brought an abrupt end to the house party just north of Jasper, a town of about 7,000 people in eastern Texas, shortly after midnight on Sunday.
A majority of students at the party had attended Jasper High’s prom, which took place without incident earlier in the night at a local church meeting hall.
None of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries, according to police. They include a 19-year-old girl who sustained two gunshot wounds to the hand and a male soccer star who was shot in the knee.
The shooting was the second to take place overnight within city limits and the sheriff’s office is investigating whether the two were related.
Firearm incidents are now the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last weekend, four people were killed and 28 others were injured in a shooting at a “Sweet 16” birthday party in Alabama. (BBC)
