At least 10 people were shot when three or four gunmen opened fire on a group standing outside a Queens nightclub where a private event was taking place Wednesday night, the New York Police Department said in an early morning press briefing Thursday.
All of the victims in the 144th Street shooting outside Amazura nightclub — "seven young women and three young males," according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny — are expected to survive, police said. Law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the mass shooting told NBC New York they believe the gunfire was gang-related. Officials said there was no nexus to terror.
According to investigators, police got multiple 911 calls shortly after 11 p.m. for a shooting at the club. Roughly 90 people were inside, upstairs at a private venue, celebrating the life of a 16-year-old who was shot to death in October. The venue was at capacity, and about 15 were waiting to get in.
Authorities say that's when three to four males, believed to be in their mid-to-late-teens to early 20s, walked up and opened fire on the group standing outside the club. About 30 shots were fired. At least 10 people were hit, suffering gunshot wounds to their backs, legs and arms.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Surveillance video showed the gunmen wildly shooting, ducking for cover, and then firing again before running off.
None of the victims has a criminal history, according to police sources. No arrests have been made. The owners of the venue said they were working closely with police.
"There's zero tolerance for these senseless shootings," Philip Rivera, the NYPD's chief of transportation, said at a press conference. "These horrible acts of violence on our streets, and those responsible for this crime, will be apprehended and brought to justice."
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
There was a separate shooting hours later, around 8:30 a.m. on Park Avenue in Brooklyn, that left a 17-year-old shot in the stomach. Police sources believe it was related to the overnight shooting in Queens.
On New Year's Day, a 42-year-old allegedly drove a truck into a crowd of people celebrating on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 15 people and injuring dozens in what authorities say was an apparent act of terror. The suspect was killed in a shootout with police at the scene.
