CNN  — 

Gunfire shattered a neighborhood cookout in West Baltimore early Sunday night, leaving at least one person dead and seven injured, police said.

Authorities need the public’s help identifying the gunman and more possible victims from the “tragic, cowardly” shooting, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a news conference.

“It is only with community help that we will be able to identify who did this and hold them accountable.”

A gunman opened fire in the middle of cookouts on both sides of the 2500 block of Edmondson Avenue Sunday.

The gunman approached an intersection where cookouts were taking place on both sides of the 2500 block of Edmondson Avenue, Harrison said.

The gunman started “firing indiscriminately into the crowd, striking a number of people,” Harrison said. He may have been targeting one or more people in the crowd.

Based on the presence of two sets of shell casings on the scene, detectives are also trying to determine if another person returned fire, the commissioner said.

“What we believe is that there was a second shooter, perhaps firing back, but it is still unknown,” he said.

Police say two sets of bullet casings were found at a shooting scene in Baltimore.

Detectives are trying to determine if the cookouts on opposite sides of the street were related or any other possible connections among those present.

“We know that many people were out here,” Harrison said.

“Detectives are now trying to locate victims so that we can find out who was here so that we can learn what happened.

Acting Mayor Bernard Young echoed the sentiment in appealing to the public for information.

“Someone knows something,” Young said.

03 baltimore shooting 0428

“When these things happen, they don’t happen by happenstance. People know who’s going to these shootings and who’s targeting different people.”

The victims were both male and female, Harrison said. Their identities and conditions are unknown.

The adult man who died ran behind a nearby church and collapsed, Harrison said. The shooting was not connected to the church, despite earlier reports.