A shooting at an impromptu block party in Charlotte, North Carolina, has left at least three people dead and several others wounded early Monday.
Police said more than 100 rounds were fired at the party, which was a continuation of Juneteenth celebrations.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Deputy Chief Johnny Jennings said police responding to a pedestrian call found hundreds of people in the streets.
After authorities arrived, several shots were fired and the crowd scattered. Jennings said five people were hit by cars while running away from the shooting. He said there was evidence of multiple shooters.
“Several shooters discharged dozens of shots into the crowd,” a police release said preliminary information indicated. No one was in custody as of Monday morning.
A female victim who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Her age and identity weren’t released. Another victim was pronounced dead at a hospital; no further information about the second fatality was released.
Jennings initially said the five people were hit by vehicles while running away, but the police statement later said the first person hit by a car was believed to be the call officers were initially responding to, while the other four were struck by vehicles fleeing the gunfire. All five are believed to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The shooting took place on Beatties Ford Road in northern Charlotte, police said.
Juneteenth, for which celebrations started Friday, commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free in 1865.
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