A 17-year-old girl was among 10 people injured following a mass shooting at a party in Charleston, South Carolina Monday evening, police said.
The incident unfolded as officers were dispatched to a lot where people were partying regarding a noise complaint and, upon arriving to the scene, they took on gunfire, Police Chief Luther Reynolds said, FOX Carolina reported.
"Immediately the officer took gunfire," Reynolds said. "Two shots went into his cruiser.
"Let me tell you something. As we stand here right now, we’re lucky we don’t have a dead cop or dead citizens or dead community members," the police chief added.
The officers remained in the cruiser, which was struck by several bullets. At least two entered the vehicle and one landed in the headrest of the driver’s seat, police said.
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The officer suffered minor injuries from the glass that broke as the bullets entered, Reynolds added. Four people were critically injured in the shooting, police said.
Advisory: South St from Nassau St to Drake St and America St from Reid St to Mary St remain closed as investigators process the earlier shooting scene. #chsnews #chstrfc
— Charleston P.D. (@CharlestonPD) May 31, 2022
The shooting then overflowed into the surrounding community and "multiple people" suffered gunshot injuries, Charleston Police Sgt. Elisabeth Wolfsen said, according to the report.
"The crime scene spanned many blocks, many blocks. So we’ve been out all night," Reynolds said.
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Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the downtown shooting was the latest in 230 mass shootings in the United States so far this year.
"It’s May 31. That’s day number 151. And that means there’s just over one-and-a-half mass shootings per day in America," Tecklenburg said. "Every 16 hours in our country, there’s a mass shooting. Think about that, y’all: Every 16 hours in America, there’s a mass shooting. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m angry about it. I’m mad about it. I’m fed up. And I concur with many of our citizens here and across this country that enough is enough."
"Thankfully, we're counting our blessings that no one in this incident was killed," Tecklenburg added.
Evidence markers and bullet holes can be seen on houses and in fences along South Street. Now that the crime scene tape is down, we’re getting a better idea of what police were investigating @ABCNews4 #chsnews #working4you pic.twitter.com/34x9LQmSvb
— Katy Solt (@katysolt) May 31, 2022
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The Charleston Police Department said three people were arrested past midnight on Tuesday, though none were believed to be responsible for the shooting.
Current look at the scene in Charleston. https://t.co/uHJIZ5Ex52 pic.twitter.com/88qlTD4WOZ
— Trooper Bob (@TrooperBob_SC) May 31, 2022
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One individual was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct and two women were arrested sometime later as fights broke out after the shooting. Two officers were injured in the altercations.
Tahira McGee was charged with second-degree assault and battery and resisting arrest and Ayesha Saleemah McGee was charged with third-degree assault and battery, Charleston County Sheriff’s spokesman Andrew Knapp said, per the report.