LAWRENCE, KS (KCTV/CNN) - Police are still looking for one or more people who fired into a crowd of people on Mass Street, killing three people early Sunday morning. Two other victims suffered non life-threatening injuries, KCTV said.
Victims have been identified as 22-year-old Leah Elizabeth Brown from Shawnee, 20-year-old Colwin Lynn Henderson from Topeka, and 24-year-old Tremel Dupree Dean from Topeka. None of them were students at Kansas University, KCTV said.
Many people who live and work nearby feel threatened after the deadly shooting that police believe took place after a previous altercation.
It should have been a normal night out for Alex Womack and his friends. “We had a really good time until we got done at Louise's drinking,” Womack said.
His group stopped for a slice of pizza before heading home, and that's when the chaos started. “We hear a lady run in and scream, ‘there's been a shooting.’ Then it was just a panic,” he added.
Lawrence Police say at least one shooter wounded five people, then fled from Mass Street.
Womack saw one of the victims on the ground before first responders arrived. “I've never experienced death before like that, not like in cold blood like the way it happened,” he said.
Lawrence Police shut down a few blocks in the downtown area as they investigated, and kept several businesses closed for Sunday morning. “I heard a couple pops but I thought it was a motorcycle backfiring. This morning I heard three people got killed,” a man said.
“We came closer to where it was. Caution tape everywhere,” another man said.
Kelly Schmidt owns the Treasure Chest just down the street from where the shooting occurred. She and other business owners on Mass Street normally take pride in the safety of the district. “Usually we all feel safe walking down Mass. We love to do it. This changes the psychology here. It's frightening,” Schmidt said.
“It's really frightening. I live two blocks from here. To have this where I lay my head at night. It has happened right near where I sleep,” a man said.
Someone left a bouquet of flowers at the spot where one of the victims was found shot dead. Womack says the part of Mass Street will haunt him for a long time.
“I think we need to, in this town, care about the environment of the people who aren't in your business. They're just pedestrians walking around. It could have been anyone,” Womack said.
The University of Kansas, based in Lawrence, says none of the people killed or wounded in the shooting were KU students.
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