Shooting At Juneteenth Celebration Leaves 1 Dead, 10 Injured

One person was fatally shot and 10 were injured during a mass shooting in South Carolina Saturday at a Juneteenth celebration, officials said.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) said at least 10 people were shot where hundreds gathered outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars facility, the ACSO said in a post on Instagram. The sheriff’s office noted the crowd of hundreds of people were gathered for a Juneteenth celebration for the sixth year in a row.

The shooting occurred after a fight broke out, officials said. One person was confirmed dead, and another patient was flown to a local hospital. Officials added at least eight other individuals were transported to hospitals in Greenville and Anderson.

“The chaotic scene brought in more than 100 law enforcement personnel, EMS, firefighters, troopers and SCDNR [South Carolina Department of Natural Resources] after hundreds of people scattered, leaving behind shoes and debris in the roadway,” the ACSO said. (RELATED: Juneteenth Celebration Turns Deadly, Leaving One Dead And 22 Injured)

The deceased individual was identified by the sheriff’s office as 35-year-old Laporshia Janae Gray Cobb, according to the South Carolina-based WSPA. Cobb’s cause of death was due to a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and her death has been ruled a homicide, the outlet reported, citing the coroner’s office.

“I just heard a bunch of pops,” a witness told WSPA.

Another witness told the outlet that the celebration quickly escalated into an unsafe situation.

“We were coming together just to celebrate each other and enjoy one another,” the man, who did not want to be identified, told WSPA. “It was good. It was good up to that point.”

“You can tell people are coming together for the right reasons, but unfortunately, that took a turn very quickly,” Shale Remien, the public information officer with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office told WSPA. “Chaos is an understatement when it comes to this scene, which is why you see how large it is.”

Officials said the investigation remains ongoing.