4 KILLED, 5 HURT IN OVERNIGHT SHOOTING AT KANSAS BAR

KANSAS CITY : Four people were killed and five wounded in Kansas on Sunday when one or two suspects opened fire inside a Kansas City bar, and police were hunting for the shooters, local authorities said.

Authorities believe the suspects had been involved in a dispute at Tequila KC Bar, a private club, earlier in the night and left before returning around 1:30 am and opening fire with handguns, the Kansas City Police Department said in a statement.

The four people killed were all Hispanic men and ranged from their mid 20s to late 50s. The five people injured were hospitalised and are in stable condition, police spokesman Thomas Tomasic told reporters. Police arrived at a scene of chaos when they were alerted to the incident, as the few dozen people who had been in the bar were running out, the suspects had fled and there was blood on the street.

Authorities have not identified the victims, but local resident Juan Ramirez told the Kansas City Star on Sunday that his 29-year-old nephew was among those killed.

So far this year, the US has been hit by more than 40 mass shootings - defined since 2012 as incidents that kill at least three people. In 2017, Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead by a US Navy veteran in a Kansas City bar. Adam Purinton was sentenced to three life sentences on hate crime charges last year for killing Kuchibhotla and wounding Indian national Alok Madasani and Kansas resident Ian Grillot .