At least six people were shot, including one fatally, at a fast-food chain restaurant in Union Township, New Jersey, on Saturday night, according to preliminary reports.

The Gun Violence Archive, a nonpartisan reference resource, listed the reported shooting at the Chick-fil-A restaurant in the 2300 block of Route 22 as the 100th mass shooting documented in the US this year, as of Sunday. The archive defines mass shootings as cases in which four or more victims are wounded or killed.

As cited by the archive, New Jersey-based news outlet RLS Media reported that Saturday’s shooting erupted inside or near the Chick-fil-A location at about 8.40pm. Five people whose conditions were not immediately known were taken to hospitals after the shooting, and one was pronounced dead on the scene. Dozens of patrons – meanwhile – scrambled to safety during the violence, according to RLS Media’s reporting, which attributed the victim information to officials.

WABC of nearby New York City reported that employees of the eatery were still inside after 11pm on Saturday, and their family members waited outside. One man who was waiting told a reporter for the outlet that his son, a Chick-fil-A employee, had said several of his co-workers were wounded in the shooting after multiple masked people entered the restaurant.

It was a “war zone”, the father added, according to WABC.

WABC also spoke with a ridesharing service driver who described hearing seven shots as he completed a trip nearby at the time of the attack.

Both WABC and RLS Media reported that the local county prosecutor’s office was investigating the mass shooting. Authorities had not immediately released details about a suspect, a possible motive or any arrests.

The New Jersey governor, Mikie Sherrill, published a statement on the social media platform X on Sunday in which she said she had been “briefed on the shooting last night in Union Township”.

“As local law enforcement continues their investigation, we remain in close contact with officials on the ground,” Sherrill’s post said. “My thoughts are with those who were injured in the shooting, and with their families.”

The US annually reports high numbers of mass shootings, particularly when compared with other high-income countries. Many in the US have therefore called for more substantial gun control, though Congress has been unable or unwilling to heed those pleas.

Union Township has a population of about 60,000. It is about 17 miles west of New York City.

If it’s all about the location, New Jersey has it!

• ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Jamie Ding won his 21st straight game on April 10, tying a fellow New Jerseyan Cris Pannullo on the all-time wins list.

Jamie Ding won his 21st straight game on “Jeopardy!” on the April 10 show, tying a fellow New Jerseyan on the all-time wins list.

The Lawrenceville resident moved into a sixth place tie on the wins list with Cris Pannullo, an Ocean City native who won $748,286 while winning 21 games in 2022.

Ding won $36,400 on Friday’s show to bring his 21-day total to $609,000. He is in sixth place on the regular-season money list behind Pannullo and remains in 14th place on the all-time earnings list, according to Jeopardy.com and TheJeopardyFan.com (See Top 10 lists below).

Ding’s opponents on Friday’s show were: Kathi Fitzgerald, an English teacher from Williamsburg, Virginia, and Xaque Williams, a writer from Knoxville, Tennessee.

Take our quiz: Think you can beat NJ ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Jamie Ding?

As has been his trademark during most of his run, Ding had the game clinched prior to Final Jeopardy. He had $26,800 to Williams’ $8,200 and Fitzgerald’s $200, TheJeopardyFan.com reported.