Four people have been killed and 12 others injured, four critically, after a mass shooting in the US state of Mississippi.

The shooting happened at around midnight on the main street in Leland, a small town 120 miles (190km) north-east of the state capital Jackson, the small city’s Mayor John Lee told the BBC.

Four of the injured were airlifted to hospital, Lee added. No suspects were in custody, but a police manhunt was under way.

Leland was busier than usual on Friday with the local high school scheduled to play a football game to mark homecoming, an annual US tradition, usually in autumn, when former students are welcomed back to celebrate school spirit and community.

The mayor said that the shooting did not take place on the Leland High School campus.

“This is an event where we have held yearly for years and hadn’t had any incidents of this sort, ever,” Lee told BBC.

“And we’re a city that, not high crime and about 3,700 people. We all get along, and everybody knows everybody. So this is definitely a tragedy to us.”

The Leland Police Department is still investigating the incident and told the BBC it cannot share any further details at this time, including how many rounds were fired and what kind of gun was used. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is helping the inquiry.

State Senator Derrick Simmons told the Associated Press that the scene was “very chaotic” after the gunfire erupted, as police and first responders rushed to the area “from all over”.

“People were just congregating and having a good time in the downtown of Leland,” Simmons told the AP.

Officials are asking for anyone with information about the “horrific” shooting to come forward, Simmons added.

A deadly shooting was also reported on Friday night in another small Mississippi town, Heidelberg, about 200 miles south-east of Leland.

That attack also happened during the town’s homecoming weekend, and claimed two lives, Heidelberg Police Chief Cornell White told the AP.

There is no indication the Leland and Heidelberg shootings were linked. (BBC, excluding headline)