BUFFALO, N.Y. — A shooting outside a restaurant in downtown Buffalo early today left four people dead and four wounded, police said.

The victims were leaving a large party inside the City Grill bar and restaurant about 2:30 a.m. when gunfire erupted, police and witnesses said. Police were investigating witness reports that an argument might have broken out inside.

"We're trying to sort all of that out," Homicide Chief Dennis Richards said. "We're checking to see if something precipitated this from inside."

Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene in the city's business district and a fourth died at a Buffalo hospital. The dead included two men and two women, Richards said.

The conditions of the wounded, all men, were not immediately available.