The shooting broke out Sunday night at a public park near a campground by Arcadia Lake in Edmond, about 10 miles north of Oklahoma City, according to Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward. Edmond police said the investigation was continuing Monday as authorities searched for suspects and made no arrests, and officials said they did not yet know how many of the injured had been shot.
Ward said the party was not sanctioned and was packed with young adults. Jeremiah Braxton, 18, estimated about 250 people attended and said an argument began among a group of girls that later escalated. “It just started a whole bunch of chaos,” Braxton told The Associated Press, describing people panicking and seeing friends fight as shots rang out.
Braxton said he heard gunfire from different directions for several minutes as he ran toward the lake. He said two of his friends were hit.
Edmond police said at least 18 people were treated at hospitals in the Oklahoma City area. One healthcare system, Integris Health, said it treated 13 people at its hospitals in Edmond and Oklahoma City, and it reported that seven remained in Baptist Medical Center, including three in critical condition. OU Health said it received five people at its trauma center but did not elaborate further.
Edmond Mayor Mark Nash said the shooting took place at a public park where spaces can be reserved for large gatherings. Nash said, “To our knowledge, there was no reservation through the parks department,” and he declined to answer additional questions while police handled the investigation.
Nash said the city was taking steps to review and strengthen park operations, including “permitting processes and security measures.” Authorities said some injured were transported for medical attention while others sought care on their own.
Police said the party had been promoted across social media, drawing a large crowd of mostly young adults from across the Oklahoma City area. A flyer circulating on social media after the shooting suggested that an event called Sunday Funday was scheduled at a pavilion near the lake until midnight, and it advertised food, drinks, music and “good vibes, good people.”
Arcadia Lake is a recreation area with picnic pavilions, campgrounds, a fishing pier and swimming beaches. Built in the 1980s for outdoor recreation and flood control, the lake also provides water to the city of Edmond, a suburb of about 100,000 residents.
Authorities also pointed to the broader backdrop of recent shootings in other parts of the country. Forty years ago, Edmond was the site of a deadly workplace shooting in U.S. history when postal worker Patrick Sherrill killed 14 co-workers before taking his own life. Over the weekend, another shooting at a party in the Texas Panhandle left two teens dead and 10 other people wounded, police said in Amarillo.