At least three people were killed and five people were wounded in a shooting that erupted on Sunday at a restaurant in Arizona where a crowd of people was celebrating Cinco de Mayo, the police and a witness said.
The police in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, responded at about 7:45 p.m. to calls saying that shots had been fired at the El Camaron Gigante Mariscos & Steakhouse, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department, Officer Moroni Mendez, told local news stations in a briefing late on Sunday.
Officers found a “chaotic” scene in which multiple people had been shot, he said. Detectives were investigating but they believed there was more than one shooter.
It was not immediately clear whether the shooting was an exchange of gunfire or if several people had acted together in firing on the crowd, Officer Mendez said.
There were no arrests, although Officer Mendez said that the public was not in danger.
Officer Mendez did not identify the victims or provide their ages. The injuries of those wounded were either caused by shrapnel or gunfire, he said.
He could not immediately be reached early on Monday, and calls to the restaurant went unanswered.
A witness told 12 News that dozens of people, including families with children, were at the restaurant for Cinco de Mayo, an annual celebration that commemorates Mexico’s victory over France in the Battle of Puebla.
The witness said there were several rounds of gunfire, and then a pause before a second set of shots was fired.
