2 shot dead and dozens injured at neighborhood block party shooting in southern Georgia

Two people were shot to death in a hail of gunfire and nearly three dozen others were injured at a homecoming weekend block party early Sunday morning in southern 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 told WMAZ-TV.

Peavy said people were “going every direction” and that, even while officers were on the scene, more gunfire erupted about a block away.

“We don’t know if it’s coming at 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 took place over homecoming weekend for Dooly County High School.

The shooting was not at a school-sponsored event, said Sherrod Willaford, superintendent of the Dooly County School System.

“We recognize that its impact may reach many of our students, families, and staff,” he said in a statement. Schools will open Monday, he said, but additional safety measures have been put in place. He did not specify what they are.

Dooly County Sheriff’s Office deputies were on patrol at a neighborhood 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 teens were wounded by gunfire during a confrontation between people at a birthday party last week at a city park.

Deputies on Sunday found two people dead at the scene and multiple others who had been shot, officials said. Police did not specify how many of the 35 injured had been shot or provide any details about 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 with fatal gunshot wounds. He said multiple other people were also shot, calling the scene “horrific.”

Walls told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that multiple people were struck by bullets and roughly a dozen others were hurt while trying to flee.

“This doesn’t — it’s not supposed to — happen in a small town like that. It’s something you hear on the news in bigger cities,” Walls told the newspaper, adding hospitals were flooded with the injured. “And even in bigger cities, you don’t hear that kind of a number.”

Authorities have not said whether any suspects are in custody or being sought. No motive has been given for the shooting.

Vienna Mayor Eddie Daniels said the shooting was about a block from his house and he “saw a lot of blue lights.” Daniels said he hadn’t spoken with law enforcement officials yet and had no details about what had happened.

Daniels said the city hadn’t issued any kind of permit for the block party and he didn’t know whether it was a homecoming party.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Lydia Bullard declined to answer questions about the shooting, saying it was an ongoing investigation.

据佐治亚州执法官员称，周日凌晨，佐治亚州南部一场返校节周末街区派对上发生枪击事件，造成两人死亡，近30人受伤。

杜利县警长克雷格·皮维告诉 WMAZ-TV，现场聚集了 1000 多人，在维也纳相距约一个街区的两个地点至少开了 50 多枪。

皮维说，人们“四处逃窜”，而且，即使警察已经赶到现场，大约一个街区外又爆发了枪战。

“我们不知道子弹是朝我们射过来，还是朝其他人射过来，”他说。“你只能继续做你正在做的事情，然后祈祷自己不会被子弹击中。”

事件发生在杜利县高中的返校节周末期间。

杜利县学校系统负责人谢罗德·威拉福德表示，枪击事件并非发生在学校组织的活动中。

他在一份声明中表示：“我们意识到，疫情可能会影响到我们的许多学生、家庭和教职员工。” 他说，学校将于周一开学，但已采取额外的安全措施，但他没有具体说明这些措施是什么。

佐治亚州调查局在一份声明中表示，周日凌晨 1 点 25 分左右，杜利县警长办公室的警员在维也纳的一个街区派对上巡逻时，发生了枪击事件。

维也纳位于亚特兰大以南约 130 英里（约 210 公里）处，从佐治亚州中部城市梅肯沿 75 号州际公路向南行驶约 50 英里（80 公里）即可到达。据当局称，上周在梅肯市的一个公园里，一群人在生日聚会上发生冲突，导致 12 名青少年被枪击受伤。

周日，警方在现场发现两具尸体和多名枪伤者。警方表示，35名伤者中有多少人是枪伤，也没有提供任何关于伤情或伤势严重程度的细节。乔治亚州调查局（GBI）称，伤者已被送往多家医院接受治疗。

杜利县验尸官布雷特·沃尔斯表示，两名男子分别为20岁和23岁，因枪伤当场死亡。他还表示，另有多人中枪，并称现场“惨不忍睹”。

沃尔斯告诉《亚特兰大宪法报》，多人被子弹击中，另有约十几人在试图逃跑时受伤。

“这种事不应该——不应该——发生在这样的小镇上。这种事你只会在大城市的新闻里看到，”沃尔斯告诉报社，并补充说医院里挤满了伤员。“即使在大城市，你也听不到这么大的伤亡数字。”

当局尚未透露是否有嫌疑人被拘留或正在被追捕。枪击事件的动机也尚未公布。

维也纳市长埃迪·丹尼尔斯表示，枪击事件发生在他家附近一个街区，他“看到了很多警灯”。丹尼尔斯说，他尚未与执法官员交谈，对事件细节一无所知。

丹尼尔斯说，市政府没有为这个街区派对颁发任何许可证，他也不知道这是否是一个返校节派对。

佐治亚州调查局发言人莉迪亚·布拉德拒绝回答有关枪击事件的问题，称调查仍在进行中。