Three people were killed and three others were wounded in a shooting on a residential street just outside Fredericksburg, Va., on Tuesday, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said.
The authorities said that the shooting may have been carried out by more than one attacker, and that no one had been taken into custody. A motive was not immediately clear, but a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said that the shooting had not arisen from a domestic dispute.
The shooting was reported around 5:30 p.m. on Olde Greenwich Circle, a street of modest townhouses in Spotsylvania County about 60 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., the sheriff’s office said. People in the immediate area were urged to stay indoors, and others were told to avoid the area.
The ages of the victims were not known. The injured victims were taken to area hospitals, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. A bystander’s video showed what appeared to be two bodies covered in white sheets several yards apart on the pavement outside a row of houses.
“We still have an active, ongoing investigation with no suspects in custody,” Major Scott said. Residents who live on or near Olde Greenwich Circle were urged to stay indoors.
Fredericksburg City Public Schools said the start of classes would be delayed by two hours on Wednesday, citing “the profound impact this incident has had on members of our school community.”
Reports of the shooting drew a heavy police response. A video posted on social media showed officers marching through a wooded area with their guns drawn.
Andrea Staples, a receptionist at Strictly Ballroom, a dance studio in a shopping plaza near Olde Greenwich Circle, said a student had called at around 6:30 p.m. after leaving class to alert them to the shooting and the shelter-in-place advisory.
“I locked the door and went and checked the back,” Ms. Staples said.
A class was in session at the time, she said, and the students sheltered in place until about 8 p.m.
“We will be here all night until we find the suspects,” Major Scott said.