Officials described the situation as a “very hectic scene” from which medics transported at least five people to a nearby hospital.
Seven people were wounded and three of them were critically injured on Wednesday evening when an unidentified suspect opened fire at a park in a Washington suburb of Tacoma, police said.
Panic-stricken people at Harry Todd Park in Lakewood dialled police just before 8 pm, prompting officials to rush emergency responders to the scene. More than 100 people were present at the time of the shooting.
Officials described the situation as a “very hectic scene” from which medics transported at least five people to a nearby hospital.
Lakewood Police Sgt. Charles Porche told The Seattle Times that three people were critically injured.
Porche added that it is not immediately clear how many suspects were involved in the crime or if the attack was targeted at the victims. No arrests had been made as of Wednesday.
“We’ve had these couple of days here where the sun finally came out, and it’s been a gorgeous time for people to get out and enjoy the park, the lake and then you have something like this that happens. It is one of the great tragedies, right? You don’t want anybody to get shot, and then you end up with seven different victims that happen out of this act of violence that, so far, we don’t know why,” Porche added.
Memorial Day Shooting
Wednesday’s incident is the second case of shooting in less than a week after a Memorial Day shooting at a Philadelphia park, which killed two people and injured nine last Monday.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said that weapons used in such crimes were meant to kill, create a carnage and hit as many people as possible. “We try to manage the crowds as they unfold, but at the same time, it is a challenge when individuals decide that they’re going to fire into a crowd,” he said while explaining the challenges to prevent gun-related violence.
