GREENVILLE: A shooter opened fire at a party in the Texas city, leaving at least two people dead and some 14 others wounded, local police said on Sunday, according to international media reports.
Police were called to the off-campus homecoming party — organised at The Party Venue on Highway 380 — where the shooting took place, following which the search for the assailant commenced. There were approximately 750 people at the event.
The Texas A&M-Commerce University Police Department tweeted about the incident first, denying “active shooter situation” but noting that it “may or not have involved students at this time”.
According to CNN, which city Hunt County Sheriff’s Office Police Chief Deputy Buddy Oxford, folks from the community of Texas A&M University-Commerce may have been among the attendees.
Police arrived after the first alert they received but the shooting began 15 minutes later. They said they were looking for a lone shooter.
Alongside the local police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Texas Rangers were assisting the investigation at the shooting site.
“ATF is responding to assist the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office at the scene of a shooting at the #PartyVenue near Greenville, Texas,” the ATF said in a statement on Twitter.
With the search for the assailant still ongoing, authorities were also yet to officially reveal how many people were wounded and admitted to local hospitals.
Shortly after the shooting was reported, gun control activist and the father of Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victim Jaime Guttenberg, wrote: “Sadly, Texas was just home to another mass shooting. They will again do nothing.”
He, however, stressed that “we must keep fighting for gun safety”.
