Two former U.S. college football players were among three people shot dead at a pool party near Auburn University, a renowned powerhouse in the sport, Alabama police said Sunday.

The three victims in the incident in the southern U.S. state were identified as Ed Christian, Ladarious Phillips and Demario Pitts, all 20 years old.

Christian and Phillips were former players at Auburn, one of the leading football schools in America. Current Auburn player Eric Mack was among three others wounded in the shooting.

"This is a trying time because it's not only university students and athletes, but it's young people. It's six young people that have been shot,"

said Auburn police chief Tommy Dawson.

"As you can tell, the community is shaken by this and grieving today."

Authorities said they were still hunting for the shooter, identified as 22-year-old Desmonte Leonard of Montgomery, Alabama. Dawson said the suspect was believed to still be in Montgomery.

The off-campus shooting at a party in the University Heights apartment complex late Saturday came as colleges across the United States are ending classes ahead of summer break.

One witness, Turquorius Vines, told police he and Pitts were approached by two unknown men who started arguing with them over a woman.

Vines, 23, said he punched one of the men, while Pitts hit both of them over the head with a bottle before one or both of the strangers began shooting.

"It started from a female. We were trying to get away from the trouble and it ended up right in our face," Vines told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

The party, Vines said, "went from us chilling with all these females to a massacre for no reason at all."

"It happened so quick, in about a second," he added.

Dawson said the shooting broke out during a "fight that got carried away and got out of hand."

Auburn, the largest and fastest-growing city in eastern Alabama, has a population of more than 53,000 people. It is home to Auburn University, which has more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members.

<한글 기사>

‘한 여자두고'  싸움벌인 운동선수 5명 사상


미국 앨라배마주 오번대 인근 아파트 수영장에서 9일 밤(현지시간) 총기를 동원한 난투극이 벌어져 5명이 죽거나 크게 다쳤다.

WTVM 방송 등 현지 언론은 10일 오번대 미식축구팀 선수 3명이 사망한 것으로 확인됐다고 보도했다.

난투극에 가담한 한 터쿼리어스 바인스(23) 씨는 "파티 참석자들이 전혀 안면이 없는 남자 2명과 한 여자를 두고 몸싸움을 벌이다 낯선 일행 중 한 명이 친구가 휘두른 병에 머리를 맞자 총질을 했다"고 전했다.

사망자 3명 중 2명은 올해 부상으로 선수생활을 접은 것으로 알려졌다.

총기사고가 발생한 오번대는 1856년 설립된 주립대학으로 `타이거즈'란 애칭을 가진 미식축구팀과 애플 CEO인 팀 쿡의 모교로 유명하다.

전형적인 대학도시인 오번은 교육환경이 좋고 현대차 앨라배마 공장에서 자동차로 약 1시간 가량 떨어진 곳에 있어 현대차 협력업체 가족과 한인 대학생 등 약 1천 명의 한인이 거주하고 있다.

이번 사건으로 인한 한인 피해는 보고되지 않았다.