A Sunday-night party near Arcadia Lake in Edmond, Oklahoma, ended with at least 23 people injured by gunfire and not a single arrest, as police on Monday continued searching for whoever opened fire on a crowd of mostly young adults who had gathered at a public park just north of Oklahoma City.

Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward said the shooting broke out during an unsanctioned gathering near a campground at the lake. The party had no permit and no reservation, just a social-media flier promising "good vibes, good people," along with food, drinks, and music at a pavilion. The event, billed as "Sunday Funday," was advertised to run until midnight.

By the time the shooting stopped, at least 18 people had been taken to hospitals across the Oklahoma City area. Three remained in critical condition. Four more were listed as serious. And the people responsible were still at large.

What happened at Arcadia Lake

The Associated Press reported that the party drew attendees ranging in age from 16 to 30. Police said some of the injured were transported from the scene while others made their own way to hospitals afterward.

AP News reported that roughly 250 mostly young adults had gathered at the lake after the event spread across social media. A witness told the outlet that the violence erupted after an argument broke out.

"It just started a whole bunch of chaos," witness Jeremiah Braxton said.

Another witness, Jason Hearne, told ABC News he was nearby when the shooting started. He described seeing people who had been shot in the legs and a young woman with a head wound who was still breathing.

"These kids came out to have a, probably a good time, and for this to break out, I know that wasn't what they expected, and it's just tragic."

Edmond is a suburb of about 100,000 residents. It is not a place accustomed to mass-casualty shootings, though the city carries a grim footnote in American history. On Aug. 20, 1986, postal worker Patrick Sherrill shot 20 co-workers there, killing 14 before taking his own life.

Hospital reports paint a grim picture

Integris Health said it treated 13 people at its hospitals in Edmond and Oklahoma City. Seven of those patients remained at Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, including three in critical condition and four in serious condition. Fox News reported that six of the 13 Integris patients had been treated and released.

OU Health said it received five people at its trauma center but offered no further details. The combined hospital tallies account for at least 18 victims, though police said the total number of injured reached at least 23, suggesting some were treated at other facilities or declined hospital care.

The scale of the casualties is staggering for a single incident at a public park. It recalls a recent mass shooting near Indiana University in which two gunmen fired into a crowd of thousands, injuring nine, except the Oklahoma toll was far higher.

No arrests, no motive, no permit

Police said Monday there was "no reason to believe there is an ongoing threat to the public." That is the kind of statement meant to calm a community, but it lands differently when the shooters remain unidentified and uncharged.

Edmond Mayor Mark Nash acknowledged the breakdown. "We're already taking steps to review and strengthen park operations, permitting processes and security measures," he said. That admission, that existing processes failed, is the closest thing to an official explanation for how a crowd of 250 young people gathered at a public campground with no permit, no security, and apparently no oversight.

The questions that remain are basic ones. How many suspects are being sought? What prompted the gunfire? Who organized the party? Police have not answered any of them publicly. No motive has been disclosed. No suspect description has been released.

The pattern is familiar and frustrating. An unsanctioned event advertised on social media draws a large crowd to a public space. No one in authority notices or intervenes. Violence breaks out. Dozens are hurt. And the community is left to absorb the consequences while officials promise reviews.

A weekend of gun violence

The Arcadia Lake shooting was not the only mass-casualty incident over the weekend. Police in Amarillo, Texas, said two people opened fire early Saturday at an apartment complex in the Texas Panhandle, leaving two teenagers dead and 10 others wounded.

Across the country, communities continue to grapple with large-scale shootings that erupt at gatherings, public events, and even locations where law enforcement is present. A recent shooting near a Seattle mayor's community event unfolded while children and families gathered inside, underscoring how quickly public spaces can turn dangerous.

The challenge is not unique to any one city or state. In Chicago, a police officer was killed and another left fighting for his life after a hospital shooting, a reminder that even hardened institutions are not immune to sudden violence.

Accountability starts with the basics

What happened at Arcadia Lake is, at bottom, a failure of the most elementary kind. A large, unpermitted party took place at a public facility. The city did not know about it, or did not act on what it knew. And when violence broke out, there was no security infrastructure in place to contain it or identify the people responsible.

Mayor Nash's pledge to strengthen permitting and security measures is welcome, but it is reactive. The social-media flier advertising the event was apparently visible to anyone with a phone. If 250 people could find the party, local authorities should have been able to find it too.

The victims, at least 23 of them, some as young as 16, are now recovering from gunshot wounds sustained at a gathering that should never have been allowed to proceed unchecked. Three remain in critical condition. Their families are waiting for answers that police have not yet provided.

When suspects are eventually identified, prosecutors will need to act decisively. But the harder question is upstream: why a crowd of hundreds gathered in a public park with no permit, no security, and no plan, and why no one in a position of responsibility noticed until the shooting started.

In communities like Edmond, where manhunts for shooting suspects are not supposed to be routine, residents deserve more than after-the-fact reviews. They deserve a government that enforces its own rules before the damage is done.

Twenty-three people went to a lakeside party on a Sunday night. They left on stretchers, in ambulances, or limping to emergency rooms on their own. Somewhere, the people who pulled the triggers are still free. That ought to concentrate the mind of every official in Edmond.