GARY | A 23-year-old Merrillville woman was walking her mother to a car after a backyard barbecue early Sunday in Gary when gunfire erupted, killing the 23-year-old, police and neighborhood residents said.

Andrea Gray, of north Merrillville, died of a gunshot wound to the head about 12:45 a.m. Sunday on Ellsworth Street just south of 13th Avenue, said a spokesman for the Lake County coroner's office. A second woman -- Gray's sister, bystanders said -- was shot through the neck, but was expected to survive Sunday night, Gary police Detective Jeff Hornyak said.

No suspects were arrested Sunday and police had not identified any "persons of interest," Hornyak said.

Neighbors reported many shots were fired, Hornyak said. Hornyak could not say what provoked the gunfire or who was the target. Hornyak said people who may have seen the shooting or shooters did not cooperate with police.

A woman who said she was near the shooting early Sunday said Gray left the barbecue to walk her mother to a car. Gunfire popped from the north side of 13th Avenue, and when barbecue guests walked to the front yard, the women were laid out, the woman said.

The people on the south side of 13th Avenue could not see the shooting or shooters, the woman said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Hornyak at (219) 881-7541.