As the national debate over alleged police malpractices continues raging, the U.S. experienced a violent Fourth of July weekend in which dozens of people were killed and injured not only in some of the nation’s biggest cities but rural communities as well.
Chicago
In Chicago, at least 13 people, including a 7-year-old girl at a family party and a teenage boy, were killed in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, police said. At least 59 others were shot and wounded.
In one shooting, just before midnight Saturday, four males opened fire on a large gathering in the street in the Englewood neighborhood, police spokesman Tom Ahern said. Two males died at the scene and two more, including a 14-year-old boy, died at a hospital, Ahern said.
Four others were injured; one was in critical condition and the other three were in fair condition, Ahern said. The four attackers fled the scene. No one was arrested.
The 7-year-old girl was fatally shot in the head while standing on the sidewalk at her grandmother’s house during a Fourth of July party about 7 p.m. in the Austin neighborhood, police said.
Suspects got out of a car and began shooting, police said. No one has been arrested.
“Tonight, a 7-year-old girl in Austin joined a list of teenagers and children whose hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Twitter late Saturday.
The mayor added: “As a city, we must wrap our arms around our youth so they understand there’s a future for them that isn’t wrapped up in gun violence.”
A 32-year-old man was injured in the shooting and was in fair condition.
Detroit
A 5-year-old child was accidentally shot in the head by a 4-year-old sibling overnight in Redford, police say.
The 5-year-old was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition.
Jackson, Mississippi
A man was fatally shot and three others were wounded in a shooting early Saturday at a nightclub in Mississippi's capital, an official said.
The shooting happened at M-Bar Sports Grill in Jackson, Hinds County Capt. Tyree Jones told The Associated Press.
Cortez Shelby, 41, was shot in the neck and died at the scene, Jones said in a news release. A woman and two men were also shot and taken to a hospital. Their wounds were not considered life-threatening.
The sheriff’s office shared images on Twitter of the shooting suspect, seeking help identifying the person and saying gunfire broke out after an altercation. The suspect left the bar and was not in custody.
Baltimore
The Baltimore Police Department said a woman was killed and a man was injured in a double shooting in south Baltimore on Saturday morning.
That incident happened after four women were shot in southwest Baltimore on Friday night, FOX45 reported.
About 7:30 p.m. Saturday, police said a 20-year-old man and 21-year-old man were injured in a shooting in Baltimore. A 28-year-old man was found in southeast Baltimore early Sunday with gunshot wounds.
Kansas City, Missouri
A Kansas City police officer who was shot in the head during an exchange of gunfire that left a suspect dead was in stable condition Friday following surgery, authorities said.
A police spokesman, Officer Jacob Becchina, declined to release the name of the officer, and Chief Richard Smith said his family was asking for privacy. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is heading the investigation into the Thursday evening shooting, identified the suspect as Ky Johnson, 31, of Grandview.
Highway patrol officials said police were called shortly before 5 p.m. to a McDonald’s restaurant where Johnson was waving a gun before fleeing. The officers chased him, and he turned and opened fire on them, striking one. A second officer fired back, highway patrol officials said.
Credit: Tammy Ljungblad
Credit: Tammy Ljungblad
Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted his support for the police following the shooting.
“The women and men of our department are dedicated to this city,” Lucas said. “Always have been. Always will be. We owe them our prayers tonight and our thanks and our resolve — all of us — to call out those who are terrorizing so many in our community.”
Smith touched on similar themes during his briefing, decrying what he called a recent “negative narrative” about law enforcement.
Protesters across the U.S. have called for reforms and defunding police since George Floyd's death May 25 in Minnesota. Floyd, a Black man, was pleading for air as a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes, and his death inspired global demonstrations.
“I’m trying to bite my tongue here, but it’s frustrating,” Smith said. “These men and women come out here every day to protect and help people in this city. I think for a while here there was a negative portrayal of that, and it was a voice and maybe a message that was not honest, in my opinion.”
Greenville, South Carolina
A shooting at a nightclub early Sunday left two people dead and eight wounded in South Carolina, a sheriff's official said.
Two Greenville County sheriff’s deputies noticed a disturbance at Lavish Lounge just before 2 a.m. and saw a large crowd running out of the building, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a news conference. There was “active gunfire from inside the building,” Lt. Jimmy Bolt said in an initial statement, and Lewis said all the shots were fired inside.
Lewis and Bolt initially said 12 people had been wounded — with at least four in critical condition, Lewis said — but Bolt told The Associated Press that two victims were likely counted twice in the confusion at the hospital.
“We don’t really have a person of interest that we can name,” Lewis said, later adding that authorities weren’t sure what led to the gunfire.
Lewis said a “very large crowd” was at the nightclub for “some type of concert.” A post on Lavish Lounge’s Facebook page advertised a July 4 performance by trap rapper Foogiano. An Instagram direct message from the AP wasn’t immediately returned, but a bookings representative told the AP via text message that Foogiano was fine and his team was safe.
Hoover, Alabama
An 8-year-old boy was killed and three others injured in a shooting at a shopping mall in Alabama on Friday.
Several shots were reported near the food court at the Riverchase Galleria in the afternoon, Hoover police said in a statement.
A girl and two adults were injured in the incident. Police said they are still investigating the motive for the shooting and possible suspects.
»MORE: Man charged in Alabama mall shooting that left boy, 8, dead
Hoover police said in a tweet they would “work tirelessly to bring the responsible individuals to justice.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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