LEXINGTON, Miss. — Three people were killed and eight others were injured in central Mississippi early Saturday when at least two people opened fire into a group of several hundred people who were celebrating a school’s homecoming football win at an outdoor trail several hours after the game had ended, authorities said.

The gunfire was proceeded by a fight between some of the men at the celebration, but deputies hadn’t yet learned what sparked the fight, said Holmes County Sheriff Willie March.

Anywhere from 200 to 300 people were on the trail celebrating, and the gunfire sent them fleeing, the sheriff said in a phone interview.

---

---

“It was chaos, to tell you the truth,” March said. “The shooting just started and people started running.”

The shootings about five miles (3 kilometers) outside of Lexington, Mississippi, followed a football game several hours earlier at the Holmes County Consolidated School’s homecoming celebration. After the victory, scores of young people headed to the trail to celebrate.

Lexington is located more than 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Jackson.

Two of the victims who died were 19 and the third was 25. The injured victims were airlifted to local hospitals.

Deputies were collecting ammunition at the scene in an effort to determine how many weapons were fired, March said.

Shootings by young men have been an “off and on” problem recently in the county, which has a population of almost 16,000 residents. The young men who talk to the sheriff tell him that it’s often because they have a “beef,” or disagreement with someone.

“It’s hard to see what they are fighting over. I don’t think they are fighting over turf or drugs,” March said. “These are young men walking around with weapons. I wish I had an answer.”