Mon, June 11, 2012
Three people were killed, including two former football team players of Auburn University in the US state of Alabama, and three others injured in a shooting at a party near the university, Alabama authorities confirmed Sunday.
The shooting happened late Saturday night at the University Heights apartments, a large complex near the university where many of the university's students live, said Auburn Police Division Chief Tommy Dawson at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
The dead were identified to be three 20-year-olds, including one found dead when police arrived at the scene, and two others were transported to the hospital but died later, Dawson said.
Among the injured, one was still in critical condition after being shot in the head.
A manhunt was underway Sunday for the suspected gunman, identified as Desmonte Leonard, who was believed to have driven away from the scene and later abandoned the car. Police urged Leonard to turn himself in.
Dawson dismissed suspicion about connections of the shooting to the football team, saying "the only connection to the football team is that they are the victims of a brutal shooting".
"This is a sad, sad day for everyone associated with the entire Auburn family," said the football team coach Gene Chizik in a statement.
According to local media reports, the shooting began after a quarrel and scuffle over a woman, quoting witnesses as saying, who confirmed at least one people was killed and two others were hit. Local TV images from the scene also showed several emergency vehicles had converged overnight around the University Heights apartment complex.
