Lawrence police early Sunday morning responded en masse to what several witnesses described as “several” gunshots in the area of the Granada in Downtown Lawrence.

Approximately a dozen Lawrence police officers, two ambulances and other emergency vehicles were on Massachusetts Street shortly after 2 a.m.

Lawrence Police Capt. Paul Fellers Sunday morning said in a statement that the incident began with a brawl inside the Granada that staff pushed outside. Lawrence police arrived to break up the fight when they saw a woman being battered.

As police were dealing with the fight, Feller said a series of shots rang out from the same area. A 19-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man was injured in the gunfire. He was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Jack Connor, a 2009 KU graduate who was back in Lawrence visiting friends, was across from the Granada between 1:50 a.m. and 2 a.m. watching the fight that had broken out.

“Originally there was a big melee and police officers came and the crowd dispersed,” Connor said. “Then we heard a burst of between four and six gunshots. It was like pop, pop, pop.”

Connor, who had dropped behind the large cement planters on Massachusetts Street, said he saw at least one Lawrence police officer pull what looked like an assault rifle from his vehicle immediately after the first set of gunshots.

A short time later, as Connor and his friends were walking toward their final destination for the evening, he said he heard another rounds of shots further south.

Fellers said Lawrence police investigated a second report of a shooting in the area of Scotch Cleaners, 1029 New Hampshire, or immediately east of the Granada. Fellers said police found two vehicles with bullet holes in that parking lot.

Bill Nissen, a bail bondsman in Lawrence, was at 11th and New Jersey also reported hearing “at least two” bursts of shots coming from the area of downtown.

Feller said police stopped a “vehicle of interest” in the 800 block of Pennsylvania Street, but did not make any arrests.

Several other individuals on the social networking Web site Twitter posted that they heard shots and had to hide behind barriers on Massachusetts Street.

Fellers said one of the officers responding was battered and was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released. A 21-year-old Topeka man was arrested in connection with battery of a law enforcement officer.

Police said that as of Sunday afternoon, no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Lawrence Police Department at 785-832-7509 or CrimeStoppers at 785-843-TIPS.

Check back to LJWorld.com for updates.