Nine teenagers are shot and wounded at after-prom party in Texas - as cops launch investigation

Nine teenagers were shot early on Sunday at an after-prom party in Jasper, Texas, prompting what will be an increased police presence at the town's high school.

None of the gunshot wounds were life-threatening, the Jasper County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that offered few other details about the shooting at a home in Jasper, a town of about 7,200 people some 135 miles northeast of Houston.

The victims were taken to two hospitals, the sheriff's office said, without reporting on the number of shooters.

Deputies believe about 250 teenagers were at the party. 

Eight of the victims were taken to Jasper Memorial Hospital by personal vehicles, and some were transferred to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont for further treatment, the sheriff's office said. 

A group of nine teenagers was shot at an after-prom party in Jasper, Texas, early on Sunday; there will now be an increased police presence at the high school

Jasper County Sheriff Mitchel Newman and Chief Deputy Scott Duncan are pictured at a Sunday press conference 

'This investigation is ongoing and people of interest are being questioned,' the statement said.

The victims ranged in age from 15 to 19, KBMT-KJAC television news reported.

Jasper High School held its prom, a right of passage for American secondary schools, at a church meeting hall on Saturday night, the news station reported.

The superintendent of the Jasper Independent School District, John Seybold, pledged full cooperation with any law-enforcement investigation 'to bring these perpetrators to justice.'

'We first want to say our prayers are with those injured early Sunday morning in the shooting that took place north of town. There will be a much larger law enforcement presence this week to ensure student safety, as well as counselors on hand for any students who need their assistance,' Seybold said in the statement as reported by local media.

Just one week ago, four people were shot dead and 32 wounded at an Alabama 'Sweet 16' birthday party in the small town of Dadeville. 

Investigators on Thursday charged a sixth person with reckless murder in connection with that shooting.

A makeshift memorial is created at the scene of the fatal shooting at a dance studio in Dadeville, Alabama on Wednesday

Candles with the names of the four young people killed in a shooting and teddy bears dressed in graduation caps sit outside the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio on Wednesday

Investigators said in court documents filed Thursday that they believe five of those charged were present at the party on April 15 and 'discharged firearms into the crowd,' resulting in the deaths of four people.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Thursday night announced the arrest of a 15-year-old juvenile from Tuskegee, Alabama, the sixth person charged in the case, but court records were not released because of the person's age.

All six face reckless murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting, the state agency said.

The Sweet 16 birthday, at a dance studio just off the town square, was in full swing when gunfire erupted. Investigators have not discussed a motive or what they believe led to the shooting.

The shooting killed four young people, ranging in age from 17 to 23, and shocked the small east Alabama city of Dadeville. Besides the four slain, 32 others were injured, four of them critically.

Firearms have become the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens, surpassing motor vehicle accidents, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year.