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AHOSKIE – An Aulander man died and five others suffered gunshot wounds during a shooting at an Ahoskie bar early this morning (Saturday).

Ahoskie Police Chief Jimmy Asbell identified the deceased victim as 22-year-old Jairen Lyles. The names of the others who were shot were not made public. Neither was the extent of their injuries.

Asbell said a sixth individual suffered a leg injury while attempting to flee from the hail of gunfire, which began inside the Alaysia Bar & Grill, located at the Ahoskie Inn.

He said his officers were dispatched at 12:54 a.m. Upon arrival at the scene, officers found a large crowd consisting of over 100 people outside in the parking lot of the Ahoskie Inn.

Asbell stated that the officers found Lyles lying on the ground.

After dealing with crowd control and securing the scene, officers determined that an additional six people were injured inside and outside of the premises. Asbell said some of the injured victims had left the scene on the way to the hospital.

“While at the scene trying to investigate the homicide, there were fights breaking out by people in the parking lot while law enforcement officers were trying to contain the scene and render help to those who needed it,” Asbell said.

He added that this is an ongoing investigation by the Ahoskie Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement.

“This is a very sad night for our community,” Asbell stated. “It was a chaotic crime scene with multiple guns as evidenced by the different types of gun casings found inside and outside of the nightclub. This gun violence is senseless and now we have six people shot in one night.”

While Asbell stopped short of offering specific details about the case, he said, ‘the fact that people were allowed into this establishment with guns led to the shootings of many people which went out into a public parking lot where a man was shot to death.

“This type of violence cannot be tolerated in our community and I am asking for any person who knows anything about these shootings to please come forward and contact Detective Tom Helms with the Ahoskie Police Department,” Asbell continued. “There were over a hundred people inside and outside of the Alaysia Grill and Bar last night. We are asking that those people who were present and left before officers arrived to contact the Ahoskie Police Department to identify these individuals who chose to open gunfire inside of a club with over a hundred people inside and continued to fire these weapons into the parking lot. I am asking that our community come together and help law enforcement apprehend those people responsible for these horrendous crimes.”

Asbell thanked officers with the Hertford County Sheriff’s Office, Murfreesboro Police Department, Bertie County Sheriff’s Office, and Northampton County Sheriff’s Office for their prompt response and assistance with crowd control.