Authorities in South Carolina are investigating a shooting at a nightclub early Sunday that injured at least nine people. It was the second mass shooting in the state and the third in the country during the Easter holiday weekend. At least 31 people were also injured in the shootings in South Carolina and one in Pittsburgh, in which two minors were killed in the early hours of Sunday. No one was reported killed in the violence at Cara’s Lounge in Hampton County, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Charleston, according to an email from the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Department, which is investigating the shooting. A call to the nightclub went unanswered. In Pittsburgh, two young men were killed and at least eight people were injured when gunfire was heard during a party at a short-term rental property. The “overwhelming majority” of the hundreds at the party were minors, city police chief Scott Schubert told reporters. Investigators believe there were multiple gunmen, and Schubert said police were processing evidence into up to eight separate crime scenes spanning a few blocks around the rented house. The two shootings came just a day after shots were fired at a busy mall in the South Carolina state capital, Columbia, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Sunday night’s shooting. Nine people were shot and five others were injured as they tried to leave the scene at the Columbiana Center, Colombia 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 only person arrested in the mall shooting so far is 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price, one of three people initially arrested by law enforcement as a person of interest. Price’s lawyer, Todd Rutherford, told news agencies on Sunday that his client had shot at the mall but in self-defense. Rutherford said Price was facing the charge of carrying a pistol illegally because he was in possession of a firearm but did not have a firearm license. 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. “It simply came to our notice then. “He called the police, surrendered, dragged the gun used in it and testified at the Columbia Police Department,” Rutherford was quoted as saying by WMBF-TV. “That’s why he got a $ 25,000 bond.” 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 shootings. 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 are in addition to the other armed violence 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, six people were killed and 12 others injured in Sacramento, California, during a clash between rival gangs as bars closed in a busy downtown area a few blocks from 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. 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.
