Not less than ten people have been shot in a Greenville, South Carolina, nightclub in an outburst of suspected gang-related violence.
The incident which occurred on Sunday July 5, 2020, left two people dead and others critically injured.
Greenville County, Sheriff Hobart Lewis, said, “We believe more than one shooter fled the chaotic scene at the Lavish Lounge club before deputies arrived. A very large crowd had packed into the establishment for “some type of Fourth of July concert.”
“Two sheriff’s deputies were passing by the club shortly before 2 a.m. and heard shooting and saw a commotion, in a crowd of about 200 people,” Lewis added.
“They called for backup and emergency services and went into the club, trying to evacuate people and see if it was still an active shooting, but apparently the shooter or shooters fled,” he said.
Officials identified the deceased as Mykala Bell, 23, of Greenville and Clarence Johnson, 51, of Duncan. The Greenville News reported that Johnson was a security guard at the club.
There was still no detailed information about the wounded or the suspects from officials in Greenville. But Lewis told reporters that police were looking for “known gang members,” and that the incident was “probably gang related.”
“There is no active threat to the public,” police said.
Some of the wounded have been taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital by people at the scene, others in ambulances.
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