Halloween weekend shootings across US leave at least six dead, dozens wounded

Mass shootings over the Halloween weekend in nightlife districts across the US left at least six people dead and dozens injured, officials said.

The deadliest violence occurred in Dallas, where a handful of shootings in the city's Deep Ellum neighbourhood, a centre of music, restaurants and nightlife, killed four people and injured 15 others, police said.

Police in college towns like Fayetteville, Arkansas; Birmingham, Alabama; Newark, Delaware, and Bloomington, Illinois, also reported shootings in their nightlife districts.

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said investigators were still trying to determine if three separate shootings Saturday night over the span of about an hour and 15 minutes were related, and it wasn't immediately known why they started. Comeaux said some arrests were made but he didn’t specify how many or what charges were involved.

“This is a really big scene. It's spread out,” Comeaux said.

The department had increased police presence in the district before the shootings. No police officers were injured.

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In Birmingham, one person was killed and eight others were wounded in two separate shootings just outside Legion Field after the annual “Magic City Classic” football game on Saturday night, Mayor Randall Woodfin said at a news conference Sunday.

Two were listed in critical condition Sunday, fire officials said.

Alabama State and Alabama A&M are archrivals whose annual contest has been played for more than 100 years. Nearly 70,000 fans attended Saturday’s game, won by Alabama A&M 31-28. The event draws some of the largest crowds in the country for games played in their college football division.

Michael Pickett, chief of the Birmingham Police Department, said most spectators and families had left the stadium property after the game. The first shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue.

The circumstances of the shootings were unclear, and it was also unclear where the fatality occurred.

Police spokesperson De'Rell Freeman said one person had been detained and that “multiple weapons” were found.

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In Newark, Delaware, six people were shot late Saturday near the University of Delaware campus, Newark police Lt. Greg D’Elia said.

All six were transported to hospitals for treatment and their conditions were not available. A university spokesperson said they would provide updates on the investigation online as they become available.

Video shared on social media showed people running for safety from the scene. One stretch of the city's Main Street was closed for several hours after the shooting, police said.

A shooting early Sunday in Bloomington, Illinois, left a 19-year-old woman dead and another woman in critical condition. Six others had injuries of an unknown nature that were not life-threatening. The shooting happened near the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington is about 135 miles (217 kilometres) south-west of Chicago.

In Fayetteville, Arkansas, six people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds from a shooting early Sunday near the University of Arkansas. No arrests have been made, police said in a news release. A preliminary investigation indicates an altercation preceded the shooting.

On Friday, two people were killed in separate shootings at Spirit Halloween stores in California and Michigan.

Police said a shooting inside a store in Fairfield, California, was a targeted attack. Family members told police that the 31-year-old woman who died was pregnant. Six other people were wounded, police said. There were no immediate arrests.

In Madison Heights, Michigan, just north of Detroit, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot Friday afternoon. A man who was assaulted by bystanders as officers took him into custody was hospitalised with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.