April 24 (UPI) -- Nine teenagers were wounded in a shooting that erupted over the weekend at a prom after-party near a small eastern Texas town, local police said.
The shooting occurred shortly after midnight Sunday in a home near Jasper, a town of fewer than 7,500 people located some 230 miles southeast of Dallas.
No arrests have been made and no motive was known, but Jasper County Sheriff Mitchel Newman told reporters in a press conference that it may be connected to a second shooting that happened later Sunday in Jasper.
"All we know is a bunch of kids ganged up after prom to go out there and have a good time, have a night that they could remember the rest of their lives and somehow it got twisted up and a lot of children got shot," he said.
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All victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries, with eight of them having been transported to local hospitals. Their ages ranged from 15 to 19, the sheriff said.
Newman described the party as rather large with adults in attendance though he declined to say if alcohol was present.
A white car connected to the second shooting has been located with multiple people inside and was being processed, he said.
The sheriff explained that it was involved in the second shooting and had been present at the prom after-party.
Jasper Independent School District Superintendent John Seybold warned students and parents in a statement that there would be a larger police presence than normal this week following the shootings.
Counselors will also be present to off students assistance, he said.
