A total of 12 people were wounded as gunmen broke into a party in Miami, the U.S. state of Florida early on Monday, said the local police.

Miami police spokesman Napier Velazquez told reporters that about three gunmen stormed a birthday party in downtown area and opened fire at party-goers at midnight, leaving as many as 12 hurt and a chaos as people attempted to flee the scene.

All the injured have been sent to hospital and three of them were in critical condition, said the police, adding the suspects were still at large.

"Nobody is in custody. The information we got is preliminary information, we are still gathering elements on the event," said Velazquez.

According to witnesses, the gunmen were wearing all black and carried automatic weapons. They left some shell casings from an AK-47 and two pistols were found, as police confirmed.

"There's a lot of casings," Miami police Chief John Timoney said.

Police said that they are still searching for a motive for the crime.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2009)