Police investigate the scene after a deadly shooting Wednesday, March 9, 2016, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Police say multiple people were killed in the shooting and several were injured in suburban Pittsburgh. (AP PHOTO)
Police were searching early Thursday for at least two gunmen who opened fire during a backyard party in suburban Pittsburgh, killing five people and wounding three others.
Four women and a man were killed late Wednesday during the party in Wilkinsburg.
Allegheny County police said people scrambled toward the house as bullets began flying.
Four of the victims were found dead on the back porch. The other died at a hospital.
Two men were in critical condition and a woman was stable, police said.
Lt. Andrew Schurman of the Allegheny County homicide unit said the gunmen barged into the party just before 11 p.m. and opened fire in an ambush-style attack.
He said gunshots came from two distinct locations, but police don’t believe anyone at the party fired back.
“It looks like right now they were all fleeing toward the backdoor of the residence when the second gunman fired from the side of the yard,” he said.
“They all seemed to get caught on the back porch.”
The suspects fled on foot.
Wilkinsburg is a poorer, largely blighted suburb just east of Pittsburgh that is known for drug trafficking and gun violence.
But neighbors described the street on which the shooting occurred as generally quiet and expressed shock.
Resident Kayla Alexander told WPXI-TV that she heard a barrage of more than 20 gunshots.
After the shooting, groups of residents gathered on the street, some of them sobbing and saying they lost family members.