6 hospitalized after shooting breaks out at California party

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A shooting broke out at a party in central California, sending six people to the hospital on Saturday and launching a search for four suspects, authorities said.

The party, happening amid statewide stay-at-home orders intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, might have gone unnoticed until frantic witnesses called 911 shortly after midnight from an apartment complex in Bakersfield, Kern County Sheriff’s Lt. Cesa Ollague said.

“Unfortunately it came to a bad end,” he said.

Deputies who responded to the scene said the party was large, Ollague said, but he didn’t know exactly how many people were in attendance.

The victims, including one juvenile and five adults, suffered gunshot wounds but they were expected to survive, he said.

Investigators found 94 shell cases and three live rounds at the scene.

The partygoers reported seeing four men driving away in a white car, the lieutenant said.