A shooting in New York has left eight people and four children injured during a fireworks display in Brooklyn.
Blasts could be heard around 10.30pm local time last night before emergency services swarmed the scene outside a block of flats while Americans celebrated the US's 250th anniversary of independence into the night.
The horror shooting took place along 2930 W. 30th St. near Surf Ave, close to Coney Island, where a fireworks display for the Fourth of July was taking place.
A group of four boys of the age of six, seven, 12 and 14 were injured in the fallout, as well as two men, 37 and 33, and two women, 21 and 25.
The six-year-old was shot in the stomach and the other youngster, 7, was shot in both of his legs, The New York Police Department (NYPD) said.
The 12-year-old boy was shot in the leg while the 14-year-old was shot in the thigh, the police statement added.
The 21-year-old woman remains in critical condition after she was shot in the chest. The seven others are stable.
Eyewitnesses detailed the harrowing scenes as police, holding the injured children, carried the victims to ambulances.
A shooting in New York has left eight people and four children injured
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"When I see in the camera I see the cops running with the kids in their hands," one deli worker told the New York Post.
"When I went out I saw one kid was going into the ambulance and I was told there were four inside."
He said police officers had discovered a bag with a gun lying underneath the trees.
"I was scared to be honest. I think there was more than one shooter with so many (that were) hit," the man added.
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Police swarmed the scene
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Once officers reached the scene of the shooting, the eight victims were found and taken to hospital.
Following an initial investigation, a firearm was recovered at the scene.
The NYPD is yet to make an arrest while the New York officers continue to search for any suspects and persons of interest.
One resident lamented the state of crime in the local neighbourhood, adding that last night's shooting was "nothing new really".
In another incident in Brooklyn, one of New York's officers was shot in the early hours of the morning at around 4am.
Shots could be heard ringing out around Nostrand Avenue and St. Johns Place as police descended on the scene.
The wounded officer was taken to a local hospital to treat his non-life-threatening injured, the city's police department confirmed.
An investigation is ongoing.