Winnipeg police say at least one gunman opened fire at a wedding reception late Saturday night, killing one woman and injuring two other people.

The slain victim has been identified as 50-year-old Cheryl Robert. Investigators say she was shot in the head as she looked at raffle prizes, and later died in hospital.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene inside the crowded Polish Combatants Association Club, as wedding guests reacted to the gunshots.

"Everyone just heard a pop-pop-pop right away," Sheila Sinclair, wife of the bride's brother, told CTV News. "And everyone thought it was balloons until people said this person was shot and that woman fell right over. It was really awful."

Among the other victims, Robert's common-law husband, 50, was shot in the back, and a bullet grazed a 31-year-old woman.

Both have since been released from hospital.

Police say the suspect entered the building from a rear entrance before opening fire on the crowd. More than 100 people had gathered inside the building.

"Someone chose to fire from outside, indiscriminately, at innocent people in a cowardly act of violence," said Const. Jacqueline Chaput of the Winnipeg Police Service.