3 dead, 8 injured after shooter in boat opens fire on North Carolina waterfront bar: Official

Someone on the boat opened fire on the American Fish company, an official said.

3 dead, 8 injured after shooter in boat opens fire on North Carolina waterfront bar: Official

PHOTO: An ambulance responds to an emergency call in an undated stock photo.

Three people were killed and eight others injured after a person on a boat fired shots at a waterfront bar in the coastal North Carolina city of Southport, a city spokeswoman told ABC News.

The shooting began at the Southport Yacht Basin at about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, when someone on a boat coming up Cape Fear opened fire on the American Fish Company, an outdoor bar venue, said ChyAnn Ketchum, the city's public information officer. The boat then proceeded up the Intracoastal Waterway, she said.

The city posted a notice on its Facebook page warning of "reports of an active shooter" just before 10 p.m. along the waterfront, advising residents to avoid the area and stay in their homes.

"Shortly after 10:00 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard observed a single individual matching the description of the shooter, loading their boat at the public boat ramp at NE 55th Street in Oak Island," Ketchum said in a statement.

She added," The Coast Guard crew detained this suspect, who is now being held by the Oak Island Police Department, and will be turned over to the Southport Police Department for questioning, with assistance from the State Bureau of Investigation."

Southport is a city of about 4,300 people near the mouth of the Cape Fear River.