A 20-year-old man was shot to death early Sunday while attending a party in unincorporated Jefferson County, sheriff's officials said.

The shooting happened at 1:30 a.m. as deputies were on their way to break up a fight at a party in the 9700 block of Glasgow Place, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley.

Moments before the shooting, someone called dispatch and told them that a fight was going on at the address.

When deputies arrived at the house, they found Johnathan R. MacLagan dead in the front yard, Kelley said.

It appeared MacLagan died from a gunshot wound, but an autopsy is being conducted to determine an exact cause of death.

Deputies rounded up partygoers for questioning.

"Obviously people were running around in all four directions when we got there," Kelley said. "Our homicide team is interviewing a large number of people who were at the party. There were a number of witnesses."

A motive for the killing was not immediately known, although some partygoers said MacLagan had been trying to break up a fight.

Juveniles and young adults were attending the party at the time of the shooting, Kelley said.

"Our hope is that somebody will be in custody," Kelley said, although she acknowledged identifying a suspect may take some time.