WASHINGTON: Four people were shot dead and six others wounded while watching a football game in the backyard of a central California home on Sunday and three people were killed in a shooting early on Monday at a Walmart store in Duncan, Oklahoma, US media reported.

According to TNN television, Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford said the shooting took place in a parking lot in front of the store and the suspect is one of those killed.

Schools in the area had been placed on lockdown temporarily before being given an “all clear” by local police, according to a Facebook statement from Duncan Public Schools.

The shooting took place shortly before 10am on Monday, police said. They said two men and a woman died in the incident.

A gunman killed 22 people in a Walmart store in August in El Paso Texas, while another Walmart store in Mississippi was the scene of a shooting in July, when a disgruntled employee killed two co-workers and wounded a police officer.

In the El Paso shooting, a 21-year-old gunman said he had launched the deadly attack in response to what he called a “Hispanic invasion” of Texas.

Walmart said in the wake of the two shootings inside its stores within a week of each other that it would limit sales of guns and ammunition.

Police in Fresno, California, said that four people were shot dead and six others wounded on Sunday during a shooting at a gathering in a backyard to watch a football game.

Four people were shot dead and six others wounded while watching a football game in the backyard of a central California home on Sunday, police said.

Police were called to the scene after at least one person opened fire into a crowd of about 35 people gathered outside the house in Fresno, around 200 miles (320 kilometres) north of Los Angeles.

“Three people died on scene,” Fresno deputy police chief Michael Reed told reporters, adding that a fourth was rushed to hospital in critical condition and succumbed to his injuries there.

All four of the dead and the six treated for “non life-threatening” gunshot wounds were men aged between 25 and 35, Reed said.

“Our heart goes out to the families of the victims... this is senseless violence, he added.

“We are doing everything we can to bring the perpetrators to justice.” Reed said it was unclear how many perpetrators had been involved in the shooting and that there was “no indication” the incident was gang-related.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2019