A fight between two groups of young men at a California bowling alley turned deadly on Friday night (US time), leaving three dead from gunshot wounds and four injured.

The barrage of shots rang out at the Gable House Bowl, an entertainment complex, in the middle-class Los Angeles suburb of Torrance shortly before midnight.

Torrance Police units converged on the centre, where multiple victims were found with gunshot wounds.

A policeman tends to of the victims amid the chaos inside the bowling alley. Photo: Lilian Chan/Twitter

Police said three men died at the scene and four male victims were injured, two of whom were transported to a local hospital for unknown injuries. The other two injured victims sought out their own medical attention.

Authorities have not released details about what led to the shooting, but witnesses said it began with a fight between two large groups in the bowling alley section of the complex.

VIDEO: Wes Hamad, 29, was at the bowling alley with his 13-year-old niece and cousin when he saw a "huge fight" break out. Hamad said the brawl, lasted about 5 minutes, blocked the entrance of Gable House Bowl and devolved into "complete chaos." https://t.co/3JoOQsUH5p pic.twitter.com/Zq5vhjHs91

— NBC4 Columbus (@nbc4i) January 5, 2019

Wes Hamad, a 29-year-old Torrance resident, was at the bowling alley with his 13-year-old niece and cousin when he saw the “huge fight” break out. Mr Hamad said the brawl, which lasted about five minutes, blocked the entrance of Gable House Bowl and devolved into “complete chaos.”

“I grabbed my niece and started running towards the far end of the bowling alley,” he said. “As we were running, we heard 15 shots.”

As he was leaving, Hamad said he saw a woman weeping over a man who was riddled with multiple gunshot wounds in his head and neck.

Torrance, California, is a coastal city about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Los Angeles.

-with wires