July Fourth shooting at Minneapolis park sends 8 people to hospital

Eight people were hospitalized after a shooting late Monday at an unofficial July Fourth celebration at a riverside park in northeast Minneapolis, an official said.

The shooting happened at Boom Island Park at 11:30 p.m., according to the Minneapolis Park Police Department. 

Park Police and the Minneapolis Police Department responded to reports of an unidentified person firing shots into the crowd. No formal Independence Day events or fireworks were planned at the park or along the river where visitors gathered to enjoy the holiday on their own, said Dawn Sommers, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

© USA TODAY News out of Minnesota

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

Many who attended the gathering left before police arrived, Sommers said.     

"A majority of the shooting victims later arrived at local hospitals on their own, where police were notified by the hospitals," she said.

Several of those injured were in critical condition Tuesday. Police haven't released details about the victims. Park police have not made any arrests, Sommers said. 

A witness told CBS Minnesota gunshots rang out while people were watching fireworks.

HIGHLAND PARK SHOOTING: Mayor says gun was legally obtained; fear of shootings incites panic in other cities

"I just heard them going over my head to the trees,” Kaayla Laanaee told CBS Minnesota. “I was just ducking by the lake."

The incident came on the heels of a Fourth of July shooting in Illinois that left six people dead and at least 30 people injured Monday morning. A parade in the affluent Highland Park suburb turned into chaos as a shooter took aim at paradegoers from a rooftop.

Contributing: John Bacon, Grace Hauck, Jorge L. Ortiz and Cady Stanton, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: July Fourth shooting at Minneapolis park sends 8 people to hospital