News / Society

California bowling alley shooting leaves 3 dead, 4 injured

Saturday, 05 January 2019 6:32 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 05 January 2019 7:11 PM ]

Police investigate the scene of a shooting that left three men dead and four injured at Gable House Bowl on January 5, 2019 in Torrance, California. (Photo by AFP)

Three men have died and four more were injured in a mass shooting at a bowling alley in Torrance, California.

Police confirmed they found seven men with gunshot wounds, three of them dead, late Friday night at Gable House Bowl.

Witnesses reported that a big fight at the bar of the bowling alley escalated and led to the shooting.

Wes Hamad, a 29-year-old local resident, who was at the bowling alley with his teenage niece and cousin, said he witnessed a “huge fight” break out prior to the shooting. Hamad said the "huge fight" escalated into “complete chaos” in a time-span of about five minutes, blocking the entrance of Gable House Bowl. “I grabbed my niece and started running towards the far end of the bowling alley,” he said, adding, “As we were running, we heard 15 shots.”

A second witness, who asked to be anonymous, told media that he saw the fight break out before multiple gunshots were heard. “There was a fight and then we heard nine gunshots,” he claimed, giving an account on the incident that confirmed the fight but differed on the number of shots fired at the bowling alley.

There is still no information on the assailant(s) and whether the shooting was carried out by a single suspect or a group.