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Dozens Injured At Concert Shooting In Little Rock

by Morgan Brinlee
Scott Olson/Getty Images News/Getty Images

At least 28 people were injured in a shooting at an Arkansas nightclub early Saturday morning, local police have reported. According to authorities, the shooting at Power Ultra Lounge in downtown Little Rock stemmed from a dispute among club goers and is not believed to be terror-related.

Memphis-rapper Finese 2Tymes had reportedly just stopped performing at Power Ultra Lounge when gunfire broke out inside the club at around 2:30 a.m. local time. According to the Associated Press, video taken and posted online by one clubgoer appeared to show that "more than 24 shots were fired in an 11-second period." Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner told the AP they suspected weapons had been fired by more than one person.

In a tweet posted to their official Twitter, Little Rock Police said 25 of the 28 people reported injured in the attack had gun shot wounds. The other three had sustained what they called "unrelated injuries" reportedly while attempting to flee to safety. All injured persons are expected to survive, authorities have said. According to local reporter Price McKeon, the youngest victim injured in the attack has been reported to be a 16 year old.

Jonathan Rozelle of Kark 4 News and Fox 16 News reported on Twitter that one witness had described the scene inside the club as being "mass chaos as people ran for safety hoping not to be shot."

Although police are still investigating the incident they have been careful to stress it does not appear to be an act of terrorism. "We do not believe this incident was an active shooter or terror related incident," the Little Rock Police Department tweeted early Saturday. "It appears to have been a dispute at a concert." Police have yet to announce whether any arrests have been made in connection to the shooting.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Saturday's shooting was evidence that more needed to be done to address the threat of violence in the community. "Little Rock's crime problem appears to be intensifying," KATV reported Hutchinson said in a statement. "Every few days it seems a high profile shooting dominates the news, culminating with this morning's event." Hutchinson said he had already offered Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola "state assets" to help combat the threat of violent crime.

In a statement released earlier in the day, Stodola called the shooting at Power Ultra Lounge "absolutely outrageous, outlandish conduct" and said his "heart is broken" over the news.