6 dead, 4 injured in Texas roller rink shooting

WASHINGTON — A gunman killed five people during a birthday party at a roller skating rink in Texas before turning the gun on himself, police said.

The shooting in the town of Grand Prairie occurred after a fight broke out at a birthday party, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The gunman killed five people and wounded four before shooting himself in the head, police said. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

No other details were given, but the official said the incident was under investigation.

"We're going to assist the family and anybody else who attended to help them overcome this terrible situation," police spokesman John Brimmer told local media.

The wounded were treated at nearby hospitals, officials said without elaborating.

Police say the shooter was one of the organizers of the party, which quickly got out of control when an argument erupted between two family members.

"There's just no cause for this," Aaron Feldt, a resident of Grand Prairie, told The Dallas Morning News newspaper, adding that children and adult were among the guests at the party.

The incident began when an unidentified man drew a gun during an argument at a birthday party at the rink. He opened fire, shooting five people dead and wounding four others, and then shot himself, Brimmer said.

"This was a domestic situation that went south in a hurry." Brimmer told Reuters. "The shooting lasted only seconds."

Five police officers were on the scene within a minute, Brimmer said. The wounded were taken to a local hospital for treatment, although their condition was not immediately known.

A private family group had rented the entire skate rink for the evening to celebrate a child's birthday, Brimmer said. All the dead and wounded were teenagers and adults attending the gathering.

The police department has made crisis counselors available to treat victims and others who witnessed the shooting.

"There are going to be a lot of hurting families," Brimmer said.

"Thankfully we don't have things like this happen with any kind of regularity. We are a community of give or take 160,000 people and it's a great city and for something like this to happen is just horrible.