At least two people were killed and 28 injured in a shooting at a neighborhood party last night in Baltimore, on the east coast of the United States, police said.

Law enforcement received calls about shots fired shortly after midnight Saturday (local time, 07:00 today Greek time), Baltimore Police Chief Rich Worley said at a press conference.

“When they arrived at the scene, the officers found many people with bullet injuries,” he added.

An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed, and three injured are in critical condition, Rich Worley said.

The circumstances of the incident remain unclear and authorities have yet to identify a motive or suspects.

“The crime scene is extensive and our investigators will remain there for some time,” Rich Worley also said.

Brandon Scott, the mayor of the city, said for his part that this is “a tragedy that should never have happened.”

“It once again brings to the fore the consequences of the proliferation of illegal firearms on our streets and the need to combat it,” he added during a press conference.

“We will not stop until we find these cowards who decided to open fire on dozens of people, killing two,” said the mayor, who had promised during his election campaign to reduce incidents of gun violence.

Increased crime

The shootings took place in Baltimore’s popular Brooklyn neighborhood during an event that is held “every year,” Brandon Scott told CNN. Baltimore, a city of 575,000 located near the capital Washington, has one of the highest homicide rates in the country.

The United States is paying a heavy price for the widespread proliferation of firearms on its soil and the ease with which Americans have access to them. In 2022, 44,357 people died from these weapons, of which 24,090 were suicides, according to the specialist website Gun Violence Archive.

The country has more personal guns than residents: one in three adults owns at least one gun, and nearly one in two adults lives in a home with a gun.