1 killed as Texas beach party turns violent

By msnbc.com staff

At least one person was killed and three hospitalized late Saturday when shots rang out at an unauthorized party that brought thousands to Surfside Beach, south of Houston,?officials said.

Brazoria County Sheriff Charles Wagner told The Facts newspaper that the injured were taken by medical helicopter to hospitals.

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?We have one confirmed dead,? Wagner told the newspaper. ?We?re still trying to figure out what happened and where it happened.?

Traffic going to and from the island was blocked, making it difficult for emergency responders to reach the scene, television station KTRK reported.

Witnesses told The Facts that the party started pleasantly but turned violent even before the shooting.

Durron Williams told The Facts he saw the body of a man face down in the beach sand and fled, like many other party-goers.

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Some brought victims to the Surfside Beach Police Department, Wagner told The Facts.

Word of the party had spread earlier in the day on Twitter. A website advertised a ?bring your own everything? beach party with volleyball, beer pong, flag football, wet T-shirt contest, tug-o-war and DJs.

The party was advertised for noon to 7 p.m. but the shooting was reported around 9 p.m., officials said.

?There was a lot of drinking and a lot of weed,? Alante Wade of Spring told The Facts.

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