Four people in their 20s have been left injured after a shooting at a graduation party in New Hampshire yesterday, Saturday May 13.
Police have launched an investigation into the attack after receiving multiple calls of a shooting with multiple victims in Manchester, New Hampshire, just before 5pm. They arrived to the area of Ahern and O'Malley streets to find four young adults with gunshot wounds.
The victims included two women and two men, all in their 20s, who are expected to survive. Looking into the incident, officers soon learned there was a gathering taking place at the location - thought to be a graduation party.
Manchester Fire and AMR Ambulance were also dispatched to the scene with additional ambulances and fire personnel dispatched as multiple victims were reported. Police worked to secure the scene before firefighters and medics could get in to help the injured.
There have also been reports of another gunshot wound victim with sources saying the victim, who was at Elliot Hospital's Urgent Care at River's Edge, was brought there from the incident which took place in Ahern Street.
There were initial reports of two males wearing hooded clothing who appraoched the gathering. At least one of them is said to have fired a weapon, with the two males then seen fleeing the area.
Police have said the incident "does not appear to be random". Manchester Police Lieutenant Matthew Barter said on Saturday that the investigation is ongoing: "Our detectives are out there working, they'll be working into the night."
Lt Barter said in a press conference: "At about 4.50pm Manchester Police received numerous 911 calls regarding a shooting incident that occured in the area of Ahern Street and O'Malley Street in the Elmwood Gardens section of Manchester.
"Officers immediately responded, they arrived within two minutes and immediately began giving life-saving medical care to those that were injured. Officers then secured the scene making sure everyone was safe and the investigation began.
"At this point in the investigation we know there are four victims, there are two female victims and two male victims, all of whom are in their 20s. They are all being treated at an area hospital and have non-life-threatning injuries, all are expected to survive.
"Currently the investigation is active and ongoing, our detectives are uot there working, they will be working into the night and for the forseeable future until we arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
"This incident occurred outside in the afternoon in the broad daylight, there was a gathering in the area, there were many people who saw what happened and we encourage anybody who saw anything to call the Manchester Police Department, to report what they saw.
"I cannot stress enough the importance of folks coming forward and helping us, telling us what they saw and what they know in this case, it's going to be vital and we need the community to be involved in this one.
"Detectives are actively working on this, they will continue to work on this using everything we have. Our patrol officers I want to stress the great work they did in responding to this quickly, saving lives, taking life saving action on scene with the medical care they provided and making sure it was safe very quickly so that AMR and Manchester Fire could getin there and continue that care and get the victims to hospital."
In a statement, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig said: "Families and friends should be able to gather in peace - gun violence is unacceptable in our community. Thankfully there were no fatalities, and my heart goes out to the victims and the families of those who were injured."
Anyone with any information is being asked to call the Manchester Police Department on 603-668-8711 or the Manchester Crimeline on 603-624-4040. Anyone who wishes to give information to police anonymously can do so online at www.manchestercrimeline.org.
Manchester lies around 18 miles south of the New Hampshire capital of Concord, sitting on the Merrimack River. It's home to around 115,000 people, as of the 2020 census, and was first named Manchester by Samuel Blodgett, who wanted to create a great industrial area - similar to Manchester in England, the world's first industrialised city.
