3 dead and 8 injured in a mass shooting during a ride after a home game

CNN
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Three people were killed and eight others injured at a party celebrating a school’s football victory early Saturday in Mississippi, according to the local sheriff’s office.

Two 19-year-olds and a 25-year-old were killed in the incident, which involved at least two shooters, The Associated Press reported. It was said that the injured were flown to a hospital.

Holmes County Sheriff Willie March confirmed to CNN that the shooting occurred early Saturday morning on a trail outside Lexington. Emergency services received a call around 12:30 p.m. ET, Marsh said, and arrived in less than 15 minutes.

A chaotic scene awaited them, he said. “Chaos. People were running, people were crying, people, you know, it was chaos because of the large number of people that were there.”

According to the Gun Violence Archive, which like CNN defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are injured or killed, not including the shooter, there have been at least 422 mass shootings in the United States this year.

Between 200 and 300 people attended the party, which followed a football game at Holmes County Consolidated School’s homecoming celebration, the AP reported.

“After three or four hours the game was over and people decided to go out for a ride and probably have a party because they won,” he said. “The school had nothing to do with it at all. They didn’t create it, they didn’t participate in it – anything.”

Marsh said that to his knowledge, the football players themselves were not present and the cause of the shooting was unclear.

“We ask questions, but everyone says they didn’t see any incident, fight or anything like that,” March said. “We’re trying to find a motive ourselves.”

The incident marks the second weekend in a row that a mass shooting occurred following homecoming festivities.

One man was killed and nine others were injured in a shooting near Tennessee State University in Nashville on Oct. 12 after that school’s homecoming celebration. However, police said it was some kind of side celebration and not a reflection of the university.