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REPORT: 17 people shot when man opens fire outside Ala. bar

Posted at 8:42 AM, Jul 17, 2012
and last updated 2012-07-17 13:19:44-04

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) — Multiple people were shot early Tuesday at a Tuscaloosa, Alabama, bar, police told CNN.

The shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. at the Copper Top bar, Tuscaloosa police Sgt. Brent Blankley said. He would not confirm how many people were injured or their conditions.

CNN affiliate WVTM, citing officials at DCH Hospital, reported that 17 people were shot. CNN affiliate WBRC said that of those hurt, one was in critical condition, and three were in serious condition.

The hospital briefly went on lockdown after the incident in order to handle the influx of patients. A switchboard operator said that as of about 7 a.m., the hospital was no longer on lockdown.

A suspect in the shooting remains at large, according to CNN affiliate WBRC.

Surveillance video from outside the bar, released by authorities, shows a man wearing a baseball cap backward and carrying a gun as he walks through a parking lot.

Riley Dunn, a University of Alabama senior who was injured in the shooting, told the Tuscaloosa News that 80 to 90 people were in the bar at the time.

"We were all just shooting pool and hanging out," Dunn said. "It was kind of loud from the music, but we heard the gunshot, and no one really knew what to think. The first gunshot took place, then about 20 seconds later, that's when he really started firing them off. After that, everyone really scattered."

Dunn said he sustained a shrapnel-like wound to his leg.

Justin McDaniel, who was with Dunn at the scene, told the Tuscaloosa News that the injured left trails of blood outside the bar. He wasn't injured, but his shirt had large splotches of blood on it from running through the bar, the newspaper said.

Police were planning a news conference later Tuesday morning, Blankley said.

Tuscaloosa, about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham, is home to the University of Alabama. The Copper Top is located about a mile from campus.

CNN's Meridith Edwards contributed to this report.

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