US rocked by 3 mass shootings during Easter weekend; 2 dead

HAMPTON, S.C. — Authorities in South Carolina say they are investigating shooting at a club in Hampton County early Sunday that left at least nine people injured. It was the third mass shooting in the U.S. over the Easter holiday weekend.

The three shootings in South Carolina and Pittsburgh left two minors dead and at least 31 people injured.

South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating, said in an email there were no reported fatalities in the early shooting at the Cara’s Lounge in Hampton County. No information was immediately available on the severity of the injuries. Hampton County is roughly 80 miles (about 129 kilometers) west of Charleston. A phone call to the nightclub was not answered.

In Pittsburgh, meanwhile , two minors were killed an d at least eight people were injured during a shooting at a house party. The shooting, which followed an altercation, happened around 12:30 a.m. during a party at a short-term rental property where hundreds of people had gathered — the “vast majority” of them underage, Chief Scott Schubert of the Pittsburgh police department told reporters.

The shootings on Sunday come just a day after gunfire erupted at a busy mall in the South Carolina state capital of Columbia, about 90 miles north of where Sunday’s nightclub shooting took place. Nine people were shot and five people were injured while trying to flee the scene at Columbiana Centre, Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said Saturday. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 73.

The Columbia Police Department announced the arrest of 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price, who was one of three people initially detained by law enforcement as a person of interest in the mall shooting. Price was scheduled to have a bond hearing at 2 p.m. Sunday on charges of unlawful carrying of a pistol. It is not immediately known if Price has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Police said the 73-year-old victim continues to receive medical treatment, but the other victims have been released from local hospitals or will be released shortly.

“We don’t believe this was random,” Holbrook said. “We believe they knew each other and something led to the gunfire.”

The three Easter weekend mass shootings are in addition to other shootings in recent days. Last week, a gunman opened fire in a New York subway car, injuring 10 people. A suspect was arrested the next day. Earlier this month, police said six people were killed and 12 others wounded in Sacramento, California, during a gunfight between rival gangs as bars closed in a busy area near the Downtown Commons shopping mall and the state Capitol.

One week ago, a shooting inside a crowded nightclub in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, left a man and a woman dead and 10 people wounded early Sunday, authorities said. And last month, 10 people were shot at a spring break party in Dallas and several others were injured as they tried to escape the gunfire, police said.