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| Overnight shootings in Pennsylvania and Texas mar Fourth of July festivities | Overnight shootings in Pennsylvania and Texas mar Fourth of July festivities |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Five people were killed in Philadelphia and three were killed in Fort Worth on the eve of Independence Day | Five people were killed in Philadelphia and three were killed in Fort Worth on the eve of Independence Day |
| A long holiday weekend of bloodshed has intensified after a heavily armed gunman in a bulletproof vest opened fire on the streets of Philadelphia on the eve of Fourth of July celebrations, in yet another mass shooting in the US, killing five people and wounding two boys before surrendering to the police. | |
| Across the country, Texas was entering the holiday to news that another shooting had killed three people in Fort Worth, occurring just before midnight amid a gathering in a parking lot that also wounded eight. | |
| The burst of gun violence and the prospects of more shootings as the day of parties unfolded threatened to overshadow Independence Day celebrations, underpinned with evidence that 4 July is the riskiest day for mass shootings in the US calendar. | The burst of gun violence and the prospects of more shootings as the day of parties unfolded threatened to overshadow Independence Day celebrations, underpinned with evidence that 4 July is the riskiest day for mass shootings in the US calendar. |
| The Philadelphia violence was the country’s 29th mass killing in 2023, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University, the largest number on record by this time in the year. | The Philadelphia violence was the country’s 29th mass killing in 2023, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University, the largest number on record by this time in the year. |
| The numbers of people killed in such events is also the highest by this time in the year. | The numbers of people killed in such events is also the highest by this time in the year. |
| The nation was braced on Tuesday to see what the Fourth of July holiday itself would bring. In separate research, using data from the Gun Violence Archive, James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, found that there have been 52 mass shootings on the Fourth of July over the past decade, averaging just over five a year, and more than on any other given day. | The nation was braced on Tuesday to see what the Fourth of July holiday itself would bring. In separate research, using data from the Gun Violence Archive, James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, found that there have been 52 mass shootings on the Fourth of July over the past decade, averaging just over five a year, and more than on any other given day. |
| In Philadelphia on Monday night, the shootings in the Pennsylvania city that is no stranger to gun violence took place over several city blocks in the south-western residential neighborhood of Kingsessing. | In Philadelphia on Monday night, the shootings in the Pennsylvania city that is no stranger to gun violence took place over several city blocks in the south-western residential neighborhood of Kingsessing. |
| Responding officers chased the suspect as he continued to fire, and he was arrested in an alley after giving himself up, city police commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference. | Responding officers chased the suspect as he continued to fire, and he was arrested in an alley after giving himself up, city police commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference. |
| “We have absolutely no idea why this happened,” Outlaw said. “At this point, all we know is that this person left their home and decided to target individuals.” | |
| Outlaw added: “Thank god our officers were here on scene, they responded as quickly as they did, I can’t even describe the level of bravery and courage that was shown in addition to the restraint.” | |
| No connection was immediately known between the victims and the shooter, she said. He was not only wearing body armor but was carrying a high-powered assault-style rifle, multiple magazines of ammunition, a handgun and a police scanner. | No connection was immediately known between the victims and the shooter, she said. He was not only wearing body armor but was carrying a high-powered assault-style rifle, multiple magazines of ammunition, a handgun and a police scanner. |
| Officers were flagged down at about 8.30pm and multiple calls of shots fired came in from Kingsessing. Police found some gunshot victims, and as they were attending to them they heard more gunfire, Outlaw said. Police later told the local Fox 29 TV station that a fifth victim was found after being chased into his home and shot to death. Bullet casings were found outside the home and dozens of shell casings were scattered across an eight-block area. | Officers were flagged down at about 8.30pm and multiple calls of shots fired came in from Kingsessing. Police found some gunshot victims, and as they were attending to them they heard more gunfire, Outlaw said. Police later told the local Fox 29 TV station that a fifth victim was found after being chased into his home and shot to death. Bullet casings were found outside the home and dozens of shell casings were scattered across an eight-block area. |
| The suspected gunman was identified as a 40-year-old, but by Tuesday morning there was still no motive suggested. | The suspected gunman was identified as a 40-year-old, but by Tuesday morning there was still no motive suggested. |
| Three of the dead were between the ages of 20 and 59, while the fourth was estimated to be between 16 and 21 and the victim found in his home was 31 years old. All were male. | Three of the dead were between the ages of 20 and 59, while the fourth was estimated to be between 16 and 21 and the victim found in his home was 31 years old. All were male. |
| The two hospitalized victims are boys aged two and 13 who were in stable condition late on Monday, Outlaw said. | The two hospitalized victims are boys aged two and 13 who were in stable condition late on Monday, Outlaw said. |
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| Kingsessing resident Emma Hilton, 70, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that her neighborhood was getting more dangerous. “It’s getting worse. My kids [are] getting ready to take me up out of here,” she said. “It’s really gotten worse. It’s time to go.” | |
| Philadelphia as a whole has recorded 212 homicides so far this year; however, that is down 19% from the same period in 2022. | |
| In Texas, one person was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting in Fort Worth and two others died in hospital, while the other eight were also hospitalized and their conditions weren’t known, CBS reported. Here, also, the reason for the shooting wasn’t immediately clear. | In Texas, one person was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting in Fort Worth and two others died in hospital, while the other eight were also hospitalized and their conditions weren’t known, CBS reported. Here, also, the reason for the shooting wasn’t immediately clear. |
| Ten victims were adults and the other was a juvenile, the report said, adding that there was a “large crowd gathering” in the parking lot at the time of the shooting. | Ten victims were adults and the other was a juvenile, the report said, adding that there was a “large crowd gathering” in the parking lot at the time of the shooting. |
| The violence erupted on a street where a local Fourth of July parade is due to take place on Tuesday. Resident Mike Valle told CNN that “something always happens” and that “it gets out of hand”. There was a shooting on the same street on the eve of the same holiday two years ago, with several injured, the cable network reported. | |
| Back on the east coast, police are still trying to find whoever shot two people dead and wounded 28 others in a rampage of violence in Baltimore, Maryland, during the weekend at a block party. | Back on the east coast, police are still trying to find whoever shot two people dead and wounded 28 others in a rampage of violence in Baltimore, Maryland, during the weekend at a block party. |
| Baltimore’s mayor, Brandon Scott, made a public plea to get more guns, especially illegal guns, off the city streets, CBS reported. | |
| There have been more than 550 mass killings since 2006, according to the AP/US Today database, in which at least 2,900 people have died and at least 2,000 people have been injured. | There have been more than 550 mass killings since 2006, according to the AP/US Today database, in which at least 2,900 people have died and at least 2,000 people have been injured. |
| It also emerged that there had been possible domestic mass shooting in Missouri on Monday night. A woman and two children died in a home in St Ann, in St Louis county, with a man taken to hospital with a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound. |