Shooting, Stampede At Houston Caribbean Festival

July 5 (Reuters) – A shooter opened fire into a crowd at a Caribbean festival in Houston in the early hours of Saturday, critically wounding one man and injuring three others, and police said they were looking for the attacker.

In addition to the four men hurt in the shooting, two women were hurt in the stampede for the exits that followed the attack, which occurred at 1:55 a.m. local time, Houston Police Department spokeswoman Jodi Silva said .

Of those wounded in the shooting, one man was hospitalized in critical condition and three men were taken to area hospitals with less severe injuries, police said.

About 30 off-duty police officers were providing security for the event, but they were standing on the perimeter of the arena, not inside where the shooting occurred, police said. No arrests have been made.

A representative for the Houston Caribbean Festival could not be reached for comment. (Reporting by Amanda Orr; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Leslie Adler)

Official message from Houston Caribbean Festival:

On behalf of the Houston Caribbean Festival our condolences go out to all of the families that were affected by the tragedy that occurred at the Friday night Jouvert event.

The mission of the Houston Caribbean Festival is to promote and preserve our diverse Caribbean culture to our fellow Houstonians and the world.

We would like the public to know that the Houston Caribbean Festival’s first priority in planning any event is the safety of our supporters.  We would like to thank all our supporters for the kind and encouraging expressions via social media and through all other forms of communication.

The Houston Caribbean Festival will work with the proper authorities to ensure that all measures are reviewed which will allow us to continue to celebrate our cultured diversity through a festive environment.

The Houston Caribbean Festival once again would like to thank our supporters and acknowledge that without your support we would not exist.