By: Kai Yeo
In June, the total reported number of shootings were at 272. According to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), at least 150 people were killed by gun violence in more than 400 reported shootings across the country as major cities nationwide confront a surge in gun violence during the Fourth of July weekend. The 72-hour data chart includes shooting accidents and gun violence victims and has constantly been updating.
New Yorkers saw 21 shootings that injured 26 people between Friday and Sunday, according to the New York Police Department, is a decrease from the same period last year when 30 people were shot in 25 shootings. On July 4, NYC experienced 12 shooting incidents that involved 13 victims, an increase from last year when there were eight shootings and eight victims.
Gun violence incidents in New York have spiked almost 40% over the same period in 2020, with 767 shootings and 885 victims.
In Chicago, 92 people were shot over the holiday weekend, 16 of whom died. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the 76 wounded include six children and teenagers, and two Chicago police officers who were dispersing a crown on the city’s West Side.
The homicide rate in Chicago this year is 2% lower than the same period in 2020, but the number of victims is still 14% higher.
Mass Shootings
GVA defines a mass shooting “based only on the numeric value of four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter.”
Eight people were injured in a shooting near a car wash in Fort Worth, Texas, early Sunday morning after a group of men got into an argument. Fort Worth Police released a statement on Twitter than an officer heard gunfire around 1:30am and found eight people with gunshot wounds upon arrival at the scene.
A KTLA report shows that two men were killed and seven people were injured in a neighborhood late Sunday night in North Las Vegas. Police say that victims were chased through Venice neighborhood before deadly car-to-car shooting.
In Norfolk, Virginia, four children were shot on Friday afternoon – a 6-year-old girl, a 14-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, and 16-year-old boy – the 6-year-old girl was reported to have life-threatening injuries; however, she is now considered to be in stable condition. Detectives have charged a 15-year-old boy with the following: malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding, shooting into an occupied building, possession of a firearm by a juvenile, and two counts of use of a firearm.
In suburban Atlanta, police responded to a report on Saturday and found golf professional Gene Siller shot near the green of the 10th hole of the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw. This was also where he worked as the golf pro, according to the Cobb County police. Siller was found unresponsive with an “apparent gunshot wound to the head” and pronounced dead at the scene, along with two other gunshot victims on the course.
One juvenile dead and eleven others were injured in a shooting at a block party in Toledo, Ohio on Sunday night. According to Police Chief George Kral, more than 80 rounds were fired from multiple guns. Two victims, a 51-year-old and a 19-year-old, are in critical condition, Kral said, and the other nine people wounded are in stable condition, their ages ranging from an 11-year-old to three 19-year-olds.
Cincinnati police said two males (16 and 19) were killed and three others were injured at a holiday celebration at a park late Sunday night. The two were “engaged in a verbal altercation that resulted in them exchanging gunfire” and the other victims were caught in the crossfire. Two girls (16 and 17) and a 15-year-old boy were wounded in the shooting. According to Cincinnati police Chief Eliot Isaac, the 17-year-old girl is in critical condition while the other two victims suffered gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening.
Dallas police responded to two separate shootings on July 4. A 61-year-old man was killed in the first incident after being shot “multiple times in the street during a disturbance” and died at a local hospital. The second incident involved five men who were shot, and three of the victims were pronounced dead after being transported to a nearby hospital.
