A 5-year-old boy was among nine children and teenagers injured in a Friday night shooting at a gas station in Columbus, Georgia, officials said.
Officers were called just after 10 p.m. to a report of shots fired at a Shell gas station on Warm Springs Road.
“Upon arrival, responding officers found multiple gunshots and a large group of people,” the Columbus Police Department said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
Police Chief Freddy Blackmon told a news conference that he believed a fight broke out at a nearby party and spread to the gas station.
Blackmon told reporters the 5-year-old was at a gas station with a family member.
Other victims include boys aged 12, 13, 14, 17 and two boys aged 15. According to the police, two 13-year-old girls were also injured. All the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are being treated at local hospitals. Four of them were released, the police chief said at a news conference.
No arrests had been made till Saturday afternoon. Anyone with information has been appealed to contact the police.
Blackmon said “gun violence involving our youth” is happening across the country, and the only way to combat it is through a “community effort”.
“While Columbus is not safe from these incidents, I want to assure citizens that the men and women of the CPD are working tirelessly to remove violent criminals from our streets,” Blackmon said in a statement. “The whole village has a responsibility because incidents like this affect all of us.”
