Nine people injured in shooting that Rhode Island police chief says was between feuding groups

CNN  — 

Nine people in Rhode Island’s capital were injured in a shooting Thursday, Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements said during a news conference.

Three victims are “very seriously injured, maybe critically,” Clements said.

Only one patient was taken to the Rhode Island Hospital by ambulance while the rest arrived in private vehicles, according to Clements.

Police responded around 6:47 p.m. ET to reports of shots fired at a home, according to Clements.

Clements said the assailant vehicle pulled up outside a home and the occupants began shooting. Those at the home returned fire, according to the chief.

The people involved in the shooting are known to police and are part of two feuding groups, Clements said. The chief added that officers were sent to the hospital for security because of the possibility that victims from opposing groups were there.

Clements said the ages of those involved range from 19 to 25.

Several dozen shots were fired in the incident, he said.

“This was not random. It was targeted at that address,” he told reporters.

No arrests have been made at this point and the investigation is ongoing, the chief said.

Clements said there were at least four or five guns involved in the shooting.

“We’ve taken a lot of guns off the street this year. Almost double the amount of last year,” Clements said. “We have a gun issue in this city.”

“Everybody is shaken,” said Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, who described the shootings as unnerving.

Elorza said there will be extra patrols and security in the neighborhood in the coming days to make residents feel safe.

“This has to stop. the young people involved believing that the way to solve their disputes is with a handgun. I mean, that just can’t be the way,” Elorza said at the news conference.

“It’s just too easy to access these guns and we have to do something about that,” he added.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the name of Providence Chief of Police Hugh Clements.

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