Nine victims under the age of 18, including a 5-year-old boy, were wounded when gunfire broke out at a Shell gas station in Columbus, Georgia, on Friday night, police said.
None of the children had life-threatening wounds, according to the Columbus Police Department, which said that the violence apparently spilled over from an altercation at a nearby party.
The police department said that it responded to the shooting just after 10 p.m. Friday night.
When they arrived at the gas station, cops spotted “a large group of people,” including the victims, the police department said in a statement.
The victims range in age from 5 to 17 years old and include seven males and two females. None of the victims had been identified.
As of Saturday, no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting, the department said, urging anyone with information in the case to come forward.
“The rash of gun violence involving our youth is impacting communities across the country” Columbus Police Chief Freddie Blackmon said in a statement.
“While Columbus is not immune to these incidents, I want to assure citizens that the men and women of CPD are tirelessly working to get violent offenders off our streets,” he continued.
There have been at least 75 mass shootings this year in the U.S., according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit.
___
© 2023 New York Daily News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
