There is no active threat to the public, police said. (Representative)
Ten people were shot dead Sunday morning at a Greenville, South Carolina nightclub in an explosion of suspected gang violence that killed two and seriously injured two others, police said.
Police believe more than one shooter fled the chaotic scene of the Lavish Lounge club before the deputies arrived. A huge crowd gathered at the facility for “a sort of July 4 concert,” Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at an early morning press conference.
Two sheriff’s assistants passed the club shortly before 2 a.m. and heard gunshots and saw commotion in a crowd of about 200 people, said Lewis.
They called rescue and emergency services and entered the club, trying to evacuate people and see if it was still an active shooting, but apparently the shooter or shooters fled, said Lewis.
Officials identified the dead as Mykala Bell, 23, of Greenville and Clarence Johnson, 51, of Duncan. The Greenville News reported that Johnson was a security guard at the club.
As of Sunday noon, there was still no detailed information on the injured or suspects from Greenville authorities. But Lewis told reporters that the police were looking for “known gang members” and that the incident was “probably linked to a gang”.
There is no active threat to the public, police said.
Some of the injured were transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital by people on the scene, others by ambulance, said Lewis.
The Greenville News reported that there had been a previous shootout early Saturday morning at a club next to the Lavish Lounge. Police were investigating a possible connection, the newspaper said.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
