Shots fired at teenage house party

Teenagers tend to let loose after graduation, but a local house party spiraled out of control early Saturday morning.

At 2:15 a.m., shots were fired at a large house party on the 700 block of Cholla Crest, on the corner of Dusk View in the Los Arroyos housing complex near the Green Valley/Sahuarita Wal-Mart. Police arrived on the scene shortly after.

Sgt. Shannon Collier said the occupants of the house did not respond to the loud knocks or announcements made by the officers on the scene. While Collier didn't classify it as a hostage situation, he said it was treated as a "hostile confrontation and barricaded crime scene."

Police also made two traffic stops of vehicles associated with the party, but not the shooting.

"There was a mass exodus of cars shortly after we arrived," Collier said.

The house's two renters eventually came outside to speak to the police.

Collier said the shots were fired after a heated dispute between two of the party's guests, but that nobody was hit.

The Pima Regional SWAT team arrived on the scene at 6:21 a.m. and did a sweep of the house after the 20 people inside were evacuated. Ages of the occupants ranged from mid teens to early 20s.

It was not known at press time whether anyone was hurt at the party, but it was Collier's estimation that "nobody was injured" in the confrontation, but that alcohol was "definitely a factor."

Sahuarita detectives interviewed the renters of the house and did arrest more than one person associated with the party, but the identites were withheld, given that those involved were minors.

"It's unusual to break up a party like this," Collier said.

Police were still securing the scene at 7:30 a.m., with approximately a half-dozen teenagers sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs.

At press time, Sahuarita detectives were still in the process of conducting interviews.

Check www.gvnews.com throughout the day for more updates.