At Least Eight Killed, Dozens Injured in Shootings Over Fourth of July Weekend
Shootings across the country on and around the Fourth of July resulted in the deaths of at least eight people, including a 10-year-old girl in Cleveland, and left nearly three dozen injured.
Police have not made any arrests in any of these shootings.
The Fourth of July is historically one of the deadliest days of the year in the U.S. Last year, shootings around the holiday resulted in more than a dozen deaths and over 60 people wounded. The year prior, a shooting near Chicago killed seven people.
Violence and mass shootings often increase in the summer months as more people gather for social events, teens are out of school, and warmer temperatures prevail.
Drive-by shooting in Philadelphia
A 19-year-old man was killed and six others were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Philadelphia, according to police.
Around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Philadelphia police officers on patrol noticed an individual lying in the street and realized they had been shot. Additional officers arrived to find more victims.
Police said the victims were together when someone in a passing car fired multiple shots at the group. The reason for the shooting remains unknown.
The injured victims — three men, three teenage males, and a teenage female, aged 14 to 23 — were treated at hospitals for various injuries, none considered life-threatening. All were in stable condition.
10-year-old girl dies in Cleveland shooting
A 10-year-old girl was fatally shot in a Cleveland neighborhood, police said.
Officers responding to reports of gunfire on the city’s West Side found the girl around 7:10 p.m. on Thursday. She was transported to a hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Her name has not been released. The motive for the shooting and whether the girl was the intended target are still under investigation. No other injuries were reported.
Boston-area shootings leave 1 dead, four others wounded
One man was killed and four others were wounded in three separate shootings in the Boston area after the city’s Fourth of July celebrations.
The fatal shooting occurred around 1:30 a.m. on Friday in a park near Boston’s South End neighborhood. The man’s identity has not yet been released. At approximately the same time, three other individuals were injured in a shooting in the city’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. A third shooting at a gas station later left one victim with life-threatening injuries.
Another shooting at approximately 9 p.m. on Thursday left a 17-year-old male with a gunshot wound to his stomach in the parking lot of a condominium complex in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
Separate gun incidents in Chicago wound 14
A day after a Fourth of July shooting killed two women and an 8-year-old boy in Chicago, police are investigating two other mass shootings that wounded 14 people in the city early on Friday.
Chicago police reported that eight people were shot in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood shortly after midnight during an exchange of gunfire between two individuals who fled the scene. All shooting victims — five women and three men aged 18 to 74 — were reported to be in good or fair condition.
About 90 minutes later, a shooting in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood wounded six people — three men and two women aged 18 to 25, and a 15-year-old boy, police said. All six were reported to be in good or fair condition. Police said preliminary investigations suggest that shooting also involved an exchange of gunfire between two people who ran from the scene.
Friday’s shootings followed a Thursday morning shooting in a home on Chicago’s south side that killed two women, ages 45 and 24, and wounded three boys, ages 8, 7 and 5. The 8-year-old boy died from his wounds later on Thursday, police said.
Deputy Chief Don Jerome said two vehicles pulled up and multiple people exited the vehicles and fired shots at the home. Multiple shell casings from both a rifle and a handgun were found at the scene, he said.
Police are continuing their investigations into all three shootings and have not announced any arrests.
Six teens wounded at home in Albany, New York
Police in Albany, New York, said six teenagers were treated at a hospital for injuries not considered life-threatening after a shooting at a large gathering at a home. The victims were males ranging in age from 16 to 19.
Police responded to reports of a shooting at the home around 12:15 a.m. on Friday. None of the victims were found at the scene, but police said they located evidence consistent with gunfire in the yard behind the residence and in the street.
One teenager who had been shot flagged down officers along a street a short time later, police said.
Tampa nightclub shooting wounds 4
Four people were wounded in a shooting early on Friday outside a Tampa adult nightclub following an altercation between the club’s security guard and two men, police said.
In an email, Tampa police stated that the two men involved in the altercation drove their car to the front of the Pink Pussycat Lounge and one of them shot the security guard with a handgun. The security guard underwent surgery at a hospital and police said he is in stable condition. Three other men who were not involved in the altercation sustained unspecified minor injuries. Police said both suspects were apprehended and charged with several crimes.
Earlier on Thursday, a police officer serving a warrant in Cleveland and an armed person making threats in Yellowstone National Park .