Three people were killed and a further three were wounded in a mass shooting at what's believed to have been a graduation party, police say.
The victims, who were aged from their early 20s to their early 50s, were found dead at the home in Annapolis, Maryland, after the violence broke out on Sunday night. The three surviving victims were hospitalized and said to be in a "stable" condition.
The incident comes amid a spate of gun crime across the nation that has sparked a fierce debate about gun control, left politicians unable to answer how to address the problem, and led to multiple countries issuing warnings to their citizens considering traveling to the U.S. The latest Maryland incident comes just months after another mass shooting in the state saw three people gunned down at a strip club in Hyattsville in March.
After the shooting at around 8:00 p.m. in the 1000 block of Paddington Place this weekend, Annapolis Police Chief Edward Jackson said one suspect was in custody.
At a press briefing on Sunday night, Jackson said his investigators were told the party had been held to celebrate a graduation, but he pointed out that detectives were still working on establishing the facts of the case. The attack was not random, and is thought to have involved a shootout between two people following an "interpersonal dispute," he said.
At least one weapon, possibly two, were seized at the scene, according to NBC News.
A statement on the police department's website said: "The Annapolis Police Department confirms six people were shot in [...] Paddington Place. Three victims were reported dead on the scene and three victims were taken to Shock Trauma Units."
Newsweek has reached out to Annapolis Police Department by email for further information and comment.
Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley also spoke at the press briefing on Sunday. "If you look around you, we're in a very middle-class neighborhood in Annapolis, Maryland," he said. "Tonight is an example of, yet again, senseless violence[...] People try to resolve issues with guns. It's the most ridiculous thing we can do as a society."
The Maryland shooting comes just one week after a high school graduation ceremony saw two attendees fatally shot and five others injured in Richmond, Virginia. An 18-year-old who had just graduated was killed along with a 36-year-old who was a guest at the ceremony. Four men and a 14-year-old boy were also shot, while a 9-year-old girl was struck by a car in the chaos as hundreds of people tried to flee the scene.
