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Seven shot, four killed outside Buffalo restaurant

From correspondents in Buffalo, New York
From: AP
August 14, 2010 8:42PM

A SHOOTING outside a restaurant in downtown Buffalo early on Saturday left four people dead and three injured, police said. The restaurant held a wedding reception earlier in the night, but police didn't know if anyone in the wedding party was involved in the shooting or how many shooters there were, Police Chief Dennis Richards said.

"We're checking to see if something precipitated this from inside," Chief Richards said. Officers responding to a report of a shooting at City Grill, a bar in the city's business district, around 2.30am local time discovered three people dead, Chief Richards said. A fourth died at a hospital. Chief Richards said the dead were three men and one woman. Their identities haven't been released.

The other victims were taken to Buffalo General Hospital and Erie County Medical Center, Richards said. He said one victim was in serious condition, but he did not know the conditions of the other two. Tommy Dates, 35, of Buffalo, said he was at the bar area of the restaurant with his friends when he noticed a party had broken up. He said people started leaving the restaurant, but rushed back inside a few minutes later.

"A lot of people were real upset, just trying to get out of the way," Mr Dates said. "Nobody know where anything was coming from. Everyone was in a panic." Several hours later, three covered bodies lay in front of the restaurant. People milled around, consoling each other in the street.