One person was killed and at least fifteen others were wounded after "several" people got into an altercation and at least one of them opened fire at a nightclub in Cincinnati police said.
The shooting happened at 1 a.m. at the Cameo Nightclub on 4601 Kellogg Avenue, authorities said.
Despite the large number of wounded, police told NBC News there was no indication that the bloody attack, which happened inside the venue as hundreds of people partied, was terrorism related.
"The conflict is believed to have begun between specific groups or individuals earlier in the day, escalating and ultimately leading to this tragedy occurring at the nightclub," Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black said early Sunday.
At a press conference later Sunday, Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said it appeared "several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals."
One person was killed and at least 15 others were injured, Isaac said, with one of the injured still in "extremely critical condition" and several others suffering serious injuries.
He also identified the dead man as 27-year-old Obryan Spikes.
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley reiterated at the press conference that the shooting was not terror related, but noted: "To the victims, what difference does that make? They've been terrorized by gun violence — innocent victims."
"People were just going to have a good time and ended up getting shot, that is totally unacceptable," he said.
Cranley said he had received a phone call from Ohio Governor John Kasich who had expressed his condolences.
The assailants are still at large.
Cincinnati Police Captain Kimberly Williams said officers had attempted CPR on the person who died, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
Emergency call logs seen by NBC News indicated a caller told emergency services a man had been shot in the head but was still breathing at around 1:30 a.m.
Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate told that several other victims had life-threatening injuries.
"We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims," Neudigate said. "It's going to be a long night for our homicide units to investigate."
Neudigate added that hundreds of people were inside of the nightclub at the time of the shooting, and called it a "chaotic crime scene."
"Many of them fled, unfortunately. Many of the witnesses fled, but everyone that we can identify is being interviewed," he said.Neudigate added that Sunday morning's attack was one of the largest shooting cases that he has worked on in his 20 plus years with the department.
"At least 14 people have been shot, 1 of them has succumbed to their injuries," Sgt. Eric Franz of the Cincinnati police told NBC News.
"They have been transported to four local hospitals," he added. "Nothing to add at this point about circumstances of shooting. There are multiple witnesses to interview."Kelly Martin of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center confirmed to NBC News that their hospital received eight patients from the incident.
She said one patient was in a critical condition, three patients were in a serious condition and four patients were stable.
