WASHINGTON, April 21, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Two people were killed and six others wounded in a shooting at a block party on Saturday in the US city of Memphis, local police said.

Two people were found deceased at the scene, and one of the six wounded "remains in critical condition" at an area hospital, the Memphis Police Department wrote on social media platform X.

The shooting occurred at an unpermitted block party with about 200 to 300 people near Orange Mound Park in the southern state of Tennessee, the department said on X earlier.

Gun violence is common in the United States, a country where there are more firearms than people. Attempts to clamp down on gun rights are always met with stiff political resistance.

The United States has recorded 120 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nongovernmental organization that defines a mass shooting as four or more people wounded or killed.

Last year ended with a total of 656 such shootings.