2 killed, several injured in shooting in southeast Missouri

CHARLESTON, Mo. (AP) — Two people were killed and up to 15 people were injured in a shooting at a party early Saturday in southeast Missouri, authorities said.

Robert Hearnes, director of the Charleston Department of Public Safety, said the shooting occurred about 1 a.m. at a building people had rented for a party in Charleston.

He said people inside the building began firing and that investigators are working to determine what prompted the shooting.

Two people died and about 15 people were injured, he said. Their conditions were not yet available.

Charleston is a town of about 5,000 people in Mississippi County in Missouri’s Bootheel region. It is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southeast of St. Louis.