Weekend mass shootings killed at least 10 people, injured dozens more
CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — The heat wave across the country brought a rise in shootings as America faced yet another violent weekend.
Cities across U.S. see rise in violence over the weekend
In Indianapolis, police are investigating after a shooting early Saturday killed two people and injured two others in a parking lot on the city’s northeast side around 2 a.m. One man was pronounced dead at the scene and another man died after being taken to a hospital.
At least three people — including a teen — were fatally shot in and around St. Louis in a spate of gun violence on Sunday that also saw several other teens injured, local police said.
In Florida, police say three people are dead and at least five others injured following a shooting at a graduation party, the latest in a string of such violence in the Miami area.
Miami-Dade police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez told news outlets Sunday the party at a strip mall was ending when one or more vehicles “pulled up and began to fire into the crowd.”
Violence in Philadelphia approaches record levels
Authorities say the manager of a Philadelphia donut shop was shot and killed during an early morning robbery and a teenager was gunned down Saturday, two of four homicides seen in a 24-hour period as the city continues to grapple with a level of violence not seen in decades.
Police statistics indicate the number of homicides in Philadelphia is running more than 30% above the number at this time last year, according to the Associated Press. In total in 2020, Philadelphia recorded 499 homicides — only one below the highest-in-six-decades 500 homicides that were recorded in 1990.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said so far 2021, “is on track to be the most violent year we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.”
Police superintendent says violence trending down in Chicago
An 11-year-old Chicago girl was seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting Sunday night, police said, and was hospitalized in serious condition.
The girl was among at least 60 people shot, six of them fatally, over the weekend according to police. Those shooting victims included eight people who were standing on a street corner when they were wounded early Sunday as occupants of a passing vehicle opened fire.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told reporters Monday that homicides are up 5% this year compared with this time last year and shootings are up 17%. But he insisted that violent crime is “trending in a downward direction” in “fits and starts.”
Chicago saw a drop in homicides in May compared with the same month last year and it ended with fewer killings than any Memorial Day weekend in a decade.