Ten people were injured and three law enforcement officers were injured when a shooting erupted at a Memorial Day rally in Charleston, South Carolina, police said.
Police said the shooting began on Monday night when an officer was responding to a complaint about loud noises from a noisy party in a parking lot. Authorities said a person fired twice at an oncoming police car.
“Let me tell you something, while we are here now, we are fortunate that we do not have any dead policemen, dead citizens, or dead community members,” said the police chief. Charleston, Luther Reynolds told reporters at a press conference.
The Charleston media showed surveillance video of people running for cover while sporadic gunshots were heard. Reynolds told reporters that more than 100 evidence banners have been placed at the site, many of which indicate where the covers were found.
Reynolds said four people were seriously injured. He said that the officer was hit by a bullet from glass shards, and two deputies from the Sharif neighborhood were wounded while they were trying to control the crowd.
Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the incident fits the definition of a "mass shooting" that occurs when four or more people are injured or killed.
"Thank God, we have our blessings that no one was killed in this incident," Tecklenburg told reporters. He cited the school shooting in Ovaldi, Texas, and the racist attack on a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, while calling for action to address gun violence.
He said there have been 230 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to a database.
"Think about it guys. Every 16 hours in America there's a mass shooting. I don't know about you, but I'm mad about it. I'm mad about it. I'm sick of it. I agree with a lot of our fellow citizens here and across the country, that's enough."
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