At least four people were killed and another five suffered serious injuries after two assailants opened fire inside a bar in Kansas City on Sunday (local time), authorities said.
The two men walked into the Tequila KC bar around 1:30 a.m. (local time) with handguns and started shooting, the police told CNN.
The police have not yet named the suspects, but released images of them grabbed by security camera.
Police spokesman Thomas Tomasic was quoted as saying that the shooting may have stemmed from an argument that occurred inside the bar hours earlier.
A bartender, Jose Valdez, told CNN affiliate WDAF the problem started when he refused to serve a man who caused problems months earlier. The man threw a glass at him and was thrown off the club, Valdez said.
A few hours later, that man and a second man came through the back door with pistols, he said.
"When he came in the second time he did not say nothing," Valdez said. "He just walked in and looked for who he was looking for and started shooting."
With about 40 people inside, the gunfire prompted customers to stampede out of the private members' venue, he added.
The four slain men, all Hispc males, were identified as a man in his late 50s, another in his mid-30s and two in their mid-20s, Tomasic said.
Another five people who had sustained injuries during the shooting were taken to hospitals. At least two of them have been released from the hospital, police said.
Investigators believe this is an isolated incident and "do not feel it's racially motivated," Tomasic said.
In the aftermath, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly said that the state is mourning the victims of "yet another mass shooting."
In a statement released by her office after the shooting, Kelly said, "I continue to be frustrated that these mass shootings and killings occur with regular frequency. Our nation has an obligation to address this ongoing public health crisis."
( With inputs from ANI )