VIENNA, Ga. (AP) — Two people were shot and killed in a hail of gunfire and nearly three dozen others were injured during a throwback weekend block party early Sunday morning in south Georgia, according to state law enforcement officials.
More than 1,000 people were gathered at the site and more than 50 shots were fired in at least two locations about a block apart in Vienna, Dooly County Sheriff Craig Peavy said. WMAZ-TV.
Peavy said people were “going in all directions” and even while officers were on scene, more gunfire erupted about a block away.
“We don’t know if it came from us or someone else,” he said. “You just have to keep doing what you’re doing and hope you don’t get hit by gunfire.”
The incident occurred during back-to-school weekend for Dooly County High School.
The shooting did not occur during a school-sponsored event, said Sherrod Willaford, superintendent of the Dooly County school system.
“We recognize that its impact may affect many of our students, families and staff,” he said in a statement. Schools will open on Monday, he said, but additional safety measures have been put in place. He did not specify what it was.
Dooly County Sheriff’s Office deputies were patrolling a block party around 1:25 a.m. Sunday in Vienna when shots were fired, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
Vienna is about 130 miles (about 210 kilometers) south of Atlanta and about a 50-mile (80-kilometer) drive south on the Interstate 75 corridor from the central Georgia city of Macon, where authorities say 12 teenagers were shot during a confrontation between people at a birthday party last week in a city park.
Officers found two people dead at the scene and several others who had been shot, officials said. Police did not say how many of the 35 injured were shot or provide details of the injuries or their severity. The victims were taken to several hospitals for treatment, the GBI said.
Dooly County Coroner Brett Walls said the two men, ages 20 and 23, were pronounced dead at the scene from fatal gunshot wounds. He said several other people were also shot, calling the scene “horrific.”
Walls told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that several people were struck by bullets and about a dozen others were injured as they tried to flee.
“This is not supposed to happen in a small town like this. It’s something you hear on the news in big cities,” Walls told the newspaper, adding that hospitals were inundated with injured people. “And even in big cities, you don’t hear that kind of figure.”
Authorities did not say whether any suspects were in custody or wanted. No motive was given for the shooting.
Vienna Mayor Eddie Daniels said the shooting happened about a block from his house and that he “saw a lot of blue lights.” Daniels said he has yet to speak with law enforcement and has no details about what happened.
Daniels said the city did not issue any permits for the block party and he did not know if it was a homecoming party.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Lydia Bullard declined to answer questions about the shooting, saying it was an ongoing investigation.
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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.
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