Philadelphia mass shooting latest: Witnesses describe horror as two killed and 9 injured in Fairmount Park gunfire

As police continue to comb the crime scene, daylight has revealed the items left behind as the hundreds of revellers who gathered to celebrate Memorial Day fled in terror after gunfire broke out on Monday evening.

Black garbage bags lay open on the grass, half filled with trash, and remains of snacks sat on a picnic table.

Random shoes were also discarded among the trash, after people abandoned their cookouts when gunshots rang out.

Two people were killed in the shooting, and nine others remain in hospital.

There is growing concern among U.S. lawmakers over small devices that can turn pistols into automatic machine guns.

Philadelphia police said they thought the weapon used in Monday night’s mass shooting may have had a “switch” due to the “rapid-fire” nature of the shooting.

A switch is a small plastic or metal component that can be attached to weapons, allowing them to fire continuously.

Read more about the fight against these devices below:

Two people were killed and nine others were injured in a mass shooting in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia last night.

Here’s what we know so far:

• Police confirmed a man and a women were killed in the shooting, which occurred just before 10.30 p.m.
• Three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17 are among the nine others who were injured. They were taken to hospital in a stable condition, police said.
• Police have made no arrests so far, and are yet to find any weapons.
• Police said the “rapid-fire” nature of the gunshots made them confident a “switch” had been used in the weapon.

Philadelphia police are investigating whether there is any connection between a crashed car and Monday night’s shooting, according to local news reports.

A Hyundai was crashed near the scene, according to 6 ABC, which reported that police were looking at any links between that incident and the shooting.

CBS News reported that one person was taken to the hospital after being hit by a car in the chaos.

Police investigating the mass shooting at Fairmount Park have taped off sections of the park, as their hours-long investigation of the scene continues.

A man and a woman were killed and nine others were injured in the shooting.

Police are expected to provide an update later today.

Police have been scouring the grass at Fairmount Park for clues including bullet casings after the mass shooting on Monday evening.

Flood lights were set up to illuminate the dark park, but police conceded the lack of light was making their investigation tricky.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said: “It’s a very, very large scene. We’ll be here ‘til daylight.”

The mass shooting in Fairmount Park on Monday night is the second mass shooting event in the U.S. over the Memorial Day weekend.

At least 11 people were injured in a shooting in a popular South Carolina beach town on Sunday night, police said.

The Horry County Police Department said early investigations indicated the shooting “resulted from an altercation during a private Memorial Day weekend gathering on a charter boat.”

Ten people suffered gunshot wounds, while another person suffered a non-gunfire-related injury, police said.

Read the full report on that shooting below:

Philadelphia police said the “rapid-fire” shots heard in videos from the shooting seem consistent with a weapon that had a ‘switch’ enabling it to fire continuously.

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said officers were combing through the park to find casings, which would help them identify whether more than one weapon was used.

“We can hear multiple rounds from stuff that has already been posted by social media, the team will dissect that, we have our team up there, crime scene, looking at the casings [so] we’ll be able to tell if there was one weapon or multiple weapons” he said.

“But it was pretty rapid fire, going to be pretty confident that there probably was a switch on this one.”

Switches can change firing modes on firearms, including to semi-automatic or automatic firing modes.

The nine victims injured in the mass shooting at Fairmount Park were taken to several hospitals around the city.

Some were taken to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, CBS News reports. Three teenagers aged 15, 16, and 17 were injured in the shooting.

Others were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Temple University Hospital, and Lankenau Medical Center.

CBS also reports that another person was taken after being hit by a car in the chaos following the shooting.