Shootings erupted at festivals, block parties and other gatherings in a handful of cities this week as the United States celebrated the Fourth of July.
Gun violence that raged in Washington, Louisiana, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Texas and Florida left more than a dozen dead and nearly 60 injured, including children as young as two years old.
In Shreveport, La., at least three people were killed and 10 others injured late Tuesday night through Wednesday, said Angie Willhite, a Shreveport police sergeant. One of the injured was in critical condition Wednesday, but the others are expected to survive.
No arrests were made.
“We are struggling to get information from those present. We don’t get a lot of cooperation,” Ms.me Willite.
Another body was found in the area Wednesday morning, local police chief Wayne Smith told a news conference.
“There’s a good chance it’s a consequence of what happened here last night,” Smith said.
Nine wounded in Washington
Nine people who were outside enjoying Independence Day celebrations in the country’s capital were shot and injured early Wednesday, police said.
Officers responding around 1 a.m. found a 9-year-old child and a 17-year-old teen among the victims, in a neighborhood about a 20-minute drive east of the White House, the chief said. Metropolitan Police Deputy, Leslie Parsons. The victims, who have not been publicly identified, were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The shots were fired from a dark SUV driving around the neighborhood, Mr Parsons revealed, who called the shooting targeted. It is not known if there was more than one shooter in the vehicle, and no arrests have been made, police said.
Children killed
On Monday night, a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire on the streets of Philadelphia, killing five people and wounding two boys, ages 2 and 13, before turning himself in, police said.
Three people were killed and eight others were injured when several men fired indiscriminately into a crowd of several hundred who had gathered in a Fort Worth, Texas neighborhood following a festival organized in the area, authorities said. The shooting in the Como neighborhood occurred late Monday night into Tuesday, about two hours after the annual ComoFest festival ended.
Thirty people were shot and injured, two fatally, at a block party in Baltimore, near Washington, early Sunday. According to authorities, most of the victims were children.
In Florida, a 7-year-old child was killed in an altercation between two groups gathered for July 4th celebrations along a causeway that crosses Tampa Bay, police say. A man was also hit by gunfire but is expected to survive. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.