Gunfight leaves four wounded in Dorchester

Four people were shot last night in a gunfight that appeared to have zigzagged through a Dorchester neighborhood, leaving one victim with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Two of the men were rushed to Boston Medical Center, where one was being treated for the life-threatening injury and the other man was in stable condition, said a police spokesman, James Kenneally.

Two other men went on their own to Caritas Carney Hospital for treatment of injuries that police believe are not life-threatening, he added.

Kenneally did not release the names or ages of the men last night. He said the shooting remains under investigation.

The four men were injured in what appeared to be a gunfight that stretched over two blocks.

Police said the shooting originated near the intersection of Wheatland Avenue and Whitfield Street. From there, police were investigating along Whitfield, Park, and Spencer streets, following a trail of blood.

One woman in the neighborhood, who did not want to give her name, said she saw two men injured at the corner of Wheatland and Whitfield.

One was lying on the ground, she said. They were both taken away in ambulances, the woman said.

"I heard gunshots and people screaming," she said.

Milton J. Valencia of the Globe staff contributed to this report.