(COLUMBUS, Ga.) — Police in Columbus, Georgia, responded to the shooting at a local Shell gas station Friday night to find nine children, including a five-year-old child, injured with gunshot wounds.
The Columbus Police Department has made no arrests in the case, and the nine victims are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital. Police were dispatched to the crime scene at 10:11 p.m. Friday.
“The rash of gun violence involving our youth is impacting communities across the country,” Columbus Police Chief Freddie Blackmon said in a statement.
According to the Columbus police, they arrived at the gas station to see “a large group of people” and the victims. The victims range in age from five to 17 years old and include seven males and two females.
The mass shooting follows a deadly attack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, where a shooter killed six people on Friday before his arrest. The Georgia shooting is the 74th mass shooting this year in the United States, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
“It is going to take a community effort to combat gun violence in our city,” Blackmon said. “The entire village has a responsibility because incidents like this impacts all of us.”
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