(HIGHLAND, Calif.) — Nine people were shot, including one fatally, during a party in Southern California late Friday night, police said.
Police officers responded to a shooting at a business in the city of Highland, east of Los Angeles, shortly before midnight Friday, the San Bernardino Police Department said. Witnesses who called 911 told dispatchers that multiple people had been shot, according to police.
“Upon arrival, officers encountered a large crowd and learned that they were in the area attending a party,” Sgt. Equino Thomas, a department spokesperson, said in a statement. Responding officers were confronted by a large, “hostile” crowd and requested assistance from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department due to the “aggressive” behavior, police said.
Allen Gresham, 20, was found in a parking lot outside the business, which was located in a shopping center, and pronounced dead at the scene, Thomas said.
Eight additional shooting victims have since been confirmed, Thomas said. Most of the victims brought themselves to local hospitals and were treated for what appear to be non-life-threatening injuries.
The motive and suspect in the shooting are under investigation, police said.
“Based on the preliminary investigation, it does not appear that the victims were intentionally targeted and that this may have stemmed from a conflict in a crowded room that spilled out into the parking lot of the business,” Thomas said.
Footage from the scene overnight showed a large police presence outside the strip mall and at a gas station across the street.
A witness told ABC Los Angeles station KABC that shots were also fired from a car at the gas station.
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