Two people have been killed and seven others wounded in a shooting in Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, police have said.
Five others were hit by vehicles after the shooting that happened around midnight at an “impromptu block party” that was a continuation of Juneteenth celebrations, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Deputy Chief Johnny Jennings told reporters early on Monday.
Police responding to a call about a pedestrian hit found hundreds of people in the streets, Jennings said.
As emergency services arrived, several shots were fired, scattering the crowd. Jennings said there was evidence of multiple shooters but no one was in custody as of Monday morning.
The five people were hit by vehicles while running away, Jennings said.
The conditions of the 12 people hospitalised with injuries were not immediately clear.
Further details were not immediately available.
Juneteenth, for which celebrations started on Friday, commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free 155 years ago.
Tensions are high across the United States as a wave of massive protests against racial inequality and police brutality grips the country.
Many protests have seen clashes between demonstrators and police, and officials have arrested some people accused of trying to incite violence.
SOURCE:
AP news agency
