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Family's football outing in St. Louis turns tragic as 8-year-old girl shot to death

The girl is the 12th child to be killed by gunfire in St. Louis since April, the local newspaper reports.

An 8-year-old girl was killed and three other people injured in a shooting at a football exhibition involving multiple high schools in St. Louis, Missouri.

Police initially responded to a brawl at the football jamboree at Soldan High School at about 7:20 p.m. Friday night, St. Louis Metropolitan Police said. About 30 minutes later, there was a report of shots fired nearby.

Four victims with gunshot wounds were found in the parking lot of a restaurant near the high school.

They were taken to an area hospital, where one of the victims, 8-year-old girl Jurnee Thompson, was pronounced dead.

Jurnee was with her family when she was shot, police chief John Hayden said at a news conference.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Jurnee is the 12th child to die in a shooting in the city since April.

Among the other gunshot victims Friday night, two 16-year-old boys and a 64-year-old woman were in stable condition, according to police.

No suspects have been identified yet, police said Saturday morning.

The jamboree has taken place at the same site in previous years with no problems, the police spokesperson said. "But this one was tragic," the police chief said.

The head of the state high school athletics association expressed grief over the "senseless" violence.

"On a night when we celebrate the beginning of a new school year and start of the fall sports season, it deeply saddens us to hear of the tragic loss of life and senseless violence that involved members of our Association family," said Kerwin Urhahn of the Missouri State High School Activities Association in a statement, according to NBC affiliate KSDK in St. Louis.

"Our thoughts go out to the family who lost their daughter, along with the students, coaches, teachers, administrators and officials that were participating in the jamborees."