Police officers survey the scene of a shooting in which six teenagers were injured. Photo / AP
Police officers survey the scene of a shooting in which six teenagers were injured. Photo / AP
Six teenagers were shot in a drive-by shooting in a park near a high school in suburban Denver today.
Police said all were expected to survive.
The victims, aged from 14 to 18, are students at Aurora Central High School, Aurora police chief Vanessa Wilson said.
Multiple rounds of different calibres were found at the scene, and it is possible some were fired by someone on foot, she said. The suspects in the shooting were at large, she said.
Three patients were taken to Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, a diverse city east of Denver. They were in stable condition and have all been reunited with their families, spokeswoman Caitlin Jenney said.
Police officers survey the scene of a drive-by shooting that left six teenagers injured in a park. Photo / AP
Wilson said she's relieved the students are expected to survive but said gun violence is a crisis.
"When I got the call, my heart dropped," Wilson said. "Enough is enough. We need to come together as a community."
Police are asking for neighbours and bystanders to share videos or photos from phones or house surveillance systems that might help detectives identify suspects.
Student Aariah McClain, 15, said she heard gunfire as she was walking near the school's football field during lunch. She heard four shots so she started walking towards the school. Then she heard "a whole lot more", she said.
"I was shocked," she said, as she waited outside the school with her father, Harold McClain, for her 14-year-old sister to be dismissed.
The school was put on a "secure perimeter" because of the shooting, police said, which means no one is allowed in or out of a school but students and staff are able to move freely within the building.
Evette Mitchell, 47, rushed to the school to get her son, Trevell, 15. He was in gym class when he heard the gunshots, and the teacher escorted them to the smaller gym.
Mitchell said another shooting involved three teens near the school on a recent weekend. She added parents get blamed for youth violence, but no affordable activities are offered for students in the area.
"Everything costs. We're all low-income families so it's hard for us to find something for these kids to do," said Mitchell, who said her son was going to be in online classes for the rest of the week because of the shooting.
According to US News and World Report's high school rankings, 67 per cent of the school's approximately 2000 students are considered economically disadvantaged, qualifying for free or reduced lunch.
Law enforcement officials survey the scene of a shooting in which six teenagers were injured. Photo / AP
Michelle Marin, who lives across the street from the school, said she walks her dog at the park almost every morning and sees students hanging out there all the time, "but you never think something like that's going to happen".
"We have seen some lockdowns but nothing with the caution tape or anything like that," Marin said.
An 18-year-old died after being shot about 8km away on Sunday night.
