Attacker wounds 13 in Austin shooting

TEXAS: Police were searching for two people suspected in a mass shooting on a crowded downtown Austin street early Saturday in which 14 people were wounded, including two critically.

Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon said the shooting on a street packed with bars and barricaded off from vehicle traffic occurred at around 1:30 a.m. and that investigators believe it started as a dispute between two parties.

He said police are searching for two male suspects, but he declined to disclose details such as whether both fired shots, saying the investigation was ongoing and the department was working to take them into custody.

The mass shooting - one of at least three in the U.S. overnight - sparked panic along 6th Street, a popular nightlife destination in the city that's home to the University of Texas.

One witness, Matt Perlstein, told KXAN-TV that he was waiting with a friend to enter a bar when the shooting began.

Chacon said his officers responded quickly to the scene.

Because of the chaos on the barricaded street, police drove six of the wounded to hospitals in their squad cars.

Ambulances transported four people and the other four made their own way to hospitals, he said.