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One dead and seven injured after ‘60-70 rounds’ fired at South Carolina graduation party

Children, teenagers and adults left injured at lawn party attended by 150 people

Sravasti Dasgupta
Monday 06 June 2022 10:36 BST
(Related) Video captures radio call during Uvalde shooting where child says they’ve been shot

One person has died and seven others were injured after a shooting at a graduation party in Clarendon County, South Carolina on Saturday night.

Those wounded consisted of children, teenagers and adults aged 12, 13, 14, 17 and 36, as well as two 15-year-olds.

One 32-year-old woman who was shot later died, reported CNN, citing a Sunday morning statement from the Clarendon County Sheriff’s office.

Authorities said the shooting took place when two cars approached a lawn party where around 150 people had gathered.

One of the cars drove into the lawn and at least “60-70 rounds” were fired, the sheriff’s office added.

Authorities have not clarified whether the shots were fired at random or at specific targets.

It is also not clear whether there was return fire.

Officers believe the incident is gang related.

“Senseless acts won’t be tolerated. There’s absolutely no reasoning whatsoever for things like this to be happening,” Clarendon County Sheriff Tim Baxley was quoted as saying by WLTX.

“This was a school graduation party and you’ve got all these innocent children that were there that were hit by gunfire.”

The US has endured seven mass shootings in just the last 48 hours, including the one in South Carolina. The total number of deaths from the shootings reached 10, while 49 people were injured.

In one of the shootings, three people were killed and 11 others injured in a mass shooting in Philadelphia late on Saturday after a gunman opened fire into a large crowd.

In Chattanooga, Tennesse three people were killed and 14 others were injured after a shooting near a nightclub, according to the police.

The shootings come weeks after a horrific elementary school shooting in which 21 people, including 19 children, died in Uvalde, Texas.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 246 mass shootings in the US this year.

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