HAMPTON, SC (AP) – Authorities in South Carolina say they are investigating shootings at a Hampton County nightclub early Sunday that left at least nine people injured. It was the second mass shooting in the state over the Easter holiday weekend and the third in the country.
The shootings in South Carolina and one in Pittsburgh that killed two minors in the early hours of Sunday left at least 31 people injured.
The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Department is investigating the shooting early Sunday morning at Cara’s Lounge in Hampton County. The service said in an email that no casualties were reported. No immediate information was available on the severity of the injuries. Hampton County is located approximately 80 miles (approximately 129 kilometers) west of Charleston. A call to the nightclub went unanswered.
In Pittsburgh, meanwhile, two minors were killed and at least eight people were injured in a shooting at a house party. The shooting, which followed a fight, happened around 12:30 p.m. during a party at a short-term rental property where hundreds of people had gathered – the “vast majority” of whom were minors, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert told reporters. .
The shootings on Sunday came just a day after shots were fired at a busy mall in the South Carolina state capital, Columbia, about 90 miles (90 miles) north of the site of Sunday night’s shooting. Nine people were shot and five people were injured as they tried to leave the scene in downtown Columbiana, Columbia Police Chief WH “Skip” Holbrook said on Saturday. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 73 years. No one suffered life-threatening injuries.
“We do not think this was a coincidence,” Holbrooke said. “We believe they knew each other and something led to the shooting.”
The Columbia Police Department announced the arrest of 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price, who was one of three people initially arrested by law enforcement as a person interested in the shooting at the mall. Columbia police said on Twitter that a judge agreed Sunday to allow Price to leave prison on $ 25,000 bail. He was to be under house arrest with an ankle screen, police said. As of Sunday afternoon, the charge against him was the illegal carrying of a pistol. He is the only person arrested so far for shooting in the mall and the prison’s online records do not mention a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.
Police said the judge will allow Price to travel from home to work at specific times each day. Price is not allowed to communicate with the victims or anyone else involved in the shooting.
South Carolina residents aged 21 and over can obtain a firearms license, which has allowed them to carry firearms openly or covertly since last year. They must have eight hours of weapons training and pass a history test that includes fingerprints.
The three mass shootings on Easter weekend have been added to other shootings in recent days. Last week, a gunman opened fire on a New York subway car, injuring 10 people. A suspect was arrested the next day. Earlier this month, police said six people were killed and 12 others injured in Sacramento, California, during clashes between rival gangs as they closed bars in a busy area near Downtown Commons and the state Capitol.
One week ago, a shooting at a crowded nightclub in Sindar Rapids, Iowa, left a man and a woman dead and 10 injured, authorities said. And last month, 10 people were shot at a spring party in Dallas and several others were injured as they tried to escape the blaze, police said.
