Two men injured 8 and killed 3 at a homecoming celebration in Lexington, Mississippi, last week when they opened fire into a crowd, authorities shared.
The Holmes County Sheriff’s office shared with the Associated Press that just after 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, an argument between two men exploded when they began shooting into the crowd that had as many as 300 young people.
Two 19-year-olds and a 25-year-old were fatally struck by bullets while hundreds were gathered following the Holmes County Consolidated School’s homecoming football game, the AP reported.
Those who were injured were taken to local hospitals, but some had to be airlifted to Jackson, Mississippi, 60 miles south of where the shooting occurred.
Holmes County Sheriff Willie March shared with the Clarion Ledger that while people wanted to celebrate their football team’s victory, “others didn’t have that same intention.”
“It was chaos, to tell you the truth. The shooting just started, and people started running,” March told the outlet, adding that the rally was not organized by the school.
Investigators believe the shooter or shooters used a gun outfitted with a “switch,” or a modification that turns a semi-automatic pistol into a selective-fire machine pistol, the Ledger reported.
Police are continuing to investigate the shooting and what resulted in the gunmen opening fire.