Shooting at Mardi Gras parade in Louisiana leaves six people injured | Louisiana

Six people – including a child – were shot dead during a carnival parade in Louisiana on Saturday, leading authorities to arrest one person, according to multiple reports.

The mass shooting occurred near a courthouse in Clinton, Louisiana, during the city’s “Mardi Gras in the Country” event, local news outlet WBRZ reported. The local sheriff told local media that the parade was immediately halted.

One person is in custody, officials told the outlet — and investigators are searching for a vehicle believed to have been used in the shooting.

The East Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Office, which oversees Clinton, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.

WBRZ reported that Louisiana State Police took over the investigation. Streets near the courthouse were reportedly blocked by state troopers and sheriff’s office officials.

Clinton has a population of approximately 1,300. It is part of the metropolitan area surrounding Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge.

At the time of the reported bloodshed in Clinton on Saturday, there had been at least 24 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive.

Records define a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are injured or killed.

The persistently high rates of mass shootings in the United States have led many to call on Congress to pass more meaningful gun control measures. But over the years, Congress has been unwilling or unable to respond to such calls.