Two die and eight wounded in killings in Virginia

WASHINGTON－Two people were killed and eight injured in at least two shootings on Friday night on Virginia Beach's Oceanfront in Virginia, authorities said on Saturday.

One person was killed by police and the other, a woman, was killed in a separate shooting, the Virginia Beach Police Department said.

A police officer was also hit by a car and suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

"What you can see is we have a very chaotic incident, a very chaotic night in the Beach," police Chief Paul Neudigate said."Many different crime scenes."

The eight injured were all taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds, a Fox News report said.

Several people were in police custody being questioned by police, the report said.

Three men ranging in age from 18 to 22 were arrested and face charges that include felonious assault and reckless handling of a firearm, police said on Saturday.

The first shooting occurred shortly after 11 pm on Friday along an outdoor strip of hotels, clubs and restaurants that was densely packed with people on one of the first warm days of the year.

Investigators believe the first shooting stemmed from a fight involving a group of people, police said.

"Several individuals produced firearms and began shooting at each other, resulting in numerous people being wounded," the police department said.

Officers patrolling the area quickly responded, but more gunfire followed several minutes later.

Police said they found a female bystander about a block away who died of her injuries from a second shooting incident. Investigators believe the woman's death was not related to the initial shooting.

In Chicago, two people opened fire at a gathering early on Friday, killing one person and wounding seven others in the second such attack on the city's South Side in the past two weeks.

Xinhua - Agencies