ABCNEWS – Authorities responded quickly to the shooting, first reported at 1 a.m., and said police are regularly present in the crowded district popular with tourists and locals.
Miami Valley Hospital spokesperson Terrea Little told ABC News that they have received 16 victims from the shooting in the Oregon District. She did not provide further information on their injuries. Dayton police confirmed that “at least” 16 people were injured in area hospitals.
The shooting took place in Dayton’s Oregon District, a collection of bars, restaurants and local businesses in the city’s downtown. The entire shooting took place outside, police said.
The suspect was using a “long gun,” according to police.
In addition to local police, the FBI is on scene assisting with the investigation.
The Dayton Police Department said in a tweet just after 3 a.m. they were “actively investigating an active shooter incident in the #OregonDistrict. Please avoid the area.”
“This is a large scene and investigation. Thank you for your patience,” Dayton police added in a subsequent tweet.
Two bars in the Oregon District — Hole in the Wall and Ned Peppers — wrote on Instagram that their staff was safe.
Kettering Health Network, which operates eight hospitals in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas, said it was treating patients, but offered no specifics.
The shooting comes just 14 hours after a gunman killed 20 people and injured more than two dozen more at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. The shooting was the eighth-deadliest in modern U.S. history. Five of the top-10 deadliest shooting in U.S. history have come since 2016.