USA Gunman kills four people in the US state of Kentucky

A young man has opened fire at a birthday party in the US state of Kentucky, killing at least four people. According to the local police authority, three other people were seriously, but not critically, injured.

The fatalities were two men and two women. Three of the victims were 20 years old or younger. The suspected shooter - a 20-year-old - shot himself after a chase with the police, according to reports. The crime took place in the early hours of the morning (local time) in the town of Florence in the north of the state. The background was initially unclear.

"It's very emotional," said a visibly affected police spokesman at a press conference. He was aware that incidents like this happen all over the country. However, it was the first time something like this had happened in Florence. "We prepare for it and hope it never happens. Now, unfortunately, we've come into contact with it like so many other police departments and cities across the nation."

Firearms are readily available and in mass circulation in the US. Attacks with many victims regularly shake the country - for example at schools, supermarkets, nightclubs or large events. But private disputes, police checks and disputes between criminals and gangs also end fatally far more often than in other countries because so many people in the USA carry guns.

According to calculations based on data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, an average of one person dies every eleven minutes in the United States as a result of gun violence.