12 Teens Shot at Birthday Party Gunfight in Macon, Georgia Park

Two groups opened fire on each other at Carolyn Crayton Park in Macon, Georgia, wounding 12 teenagers at an 18th birthday party. Two victims remain in critical condition.

Twelve teenagers wounded in park shootout during birthday celebration

Twelve teenagers sustained gunshot wounds early Sunday morning when two groups opened fire on each other at Carolyn Crayton Park in Macon, Georgia, ABC News US reports. Two of those injured were listed in critical condition; the remaining ten were stable.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis described the sequence of events at a Sunday news conference. A group of young people had gathered at the park to celebrate a woman's 18th birthday after being expelled from a rented home several hours earlier. At some point, a second group arrived at the park and a confrontation began.

"Both groups exchanged words, brandished firearms and then began firing at each other," Davis said.

Surveillance footage from the park captured an eruption of gunfire lasting approximately 30 seconds as partygoers fled the area. Among the injured were one 19-year-old male, four 18-year-old males, five 17-year-old males, and two 18-year-old females — all transported to a nearby hospital in private vehicles before deputies arrived on scene.

Davis said there was no indication that any of the injured had themselves participated in the gunfire.

Investigators were still working Sunday to establish how the two groups knew each other and what triggered the hostilities. No arrests had been made by the time of the news conference, though Davis said several persons of interest had been identified. Deputies impounded four vehicles that brought victims to the hospital and three additional vehicles left at the park. Ten witnesses were also interviewed.

"There's going to be some heavy police presence in some places coming up over the next few days as we make some arrests in this," Davis said.

In a separate incident the same morning, Detroit police responded to an after-hours strip club where an argument escalated into gunfire, killing three people and wounding four others. No arrests were immediately announced in that case.

Source: ABC News US