150 people killed during US Independence Day celebrations

WASHINGTON DC, USA: At least 150 people were killed by gun violence in more than 400 shootings across the country during the Fourth of July weekend as major cities nationwide confront a surge in violent crime, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive.

The data, which includes the number of shooting incidents and gun violence victims nationally over a 72-hour period from Friday through Sunday, is still evolving and will be updated.

In New York, where gun violence has been rising to levels not seen in years, there were 26 victims from 21 shootings from Friday to Sunday, a decrease from the same period last year when 30 people were shot in 25 shootings, the New York Police Department said.

On July 4, the city experienced 12 shooting incidents that involved 13 victims, an increase from last year when there were eight shootings and eight victims, according to the NYPD.

So far this year, gun violence incidents in New York have spiked almost 40% over the same period in 2020, with 767 shootings and 885 victims. 

In Chicago, after Police Superintendent David Brown raised concerns before the “most challenging weekend of the year” for police, 83 people were shot, including 14 killed, in shootings from 6 pm Friday to 6:00 am Monday. The injured included a 5-year-old girl wounded on Sunday afternoon and a 6-year-old girl shot on early Monday.

Chicago suffered the greatest bloodshed, with at least 92 shootings over the long weekend. That saw 16 killed and 76 injured.

National Guard soldier Chrys Carvajal, 19, was shot while attending a house party after coming home to visit his family for the Independence Day celebrations.

Two cops were among the city’s shooting victims. The unidentified officers were shot in the early hours of Monday while trying to disperse a crowd in the city’s Washington Park.

They were rushed to hospital, and are expected to survive their injuries.

Philadelphia saw a total of 17 people shot over the weekend, with 21 injured, and seven killed.

Eleven people were shot, four died and another was stabbed during a six hour orgy of violence in Philadelphia during July 4 celebrations. Six of those 11 shot were teenagers aged between 15 and 19.  

The grim toll included a double murder where more than 100 shots rang out. 

Shortly after 10:30pm on Sunday, more than 100 bullets ripped through a West Philadelphia barbeque, hitting 22-year-old Sincarr Johnson Jr. in the head, a 23-year-old man multiple times in the torso and a 16-year-old girl in the butt and leg. 

Johnson Jr. and the 23-year-old, who hasn’t been identified, died. The teenager is in stable condition, police said.

On Saturday, three people were fatally shot, including a six-year-old boy in the Northeast section of the city.  In Norfolk, Virginia, four children were shot on Friday afternoon, including a 6-year-old girl who was initially reported to be suffering life-threatening injuries but is now in stable condition, according to Norfolk police.

The victims also included a 14-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, and a 16-year-old boy, all of whom are expected to fully recover. Norfolk police said detectives have arrested and charged a 15-year-old boy in connection with the shooting.

One person and eleven others were injured in a shooting at a block party attended by several hundred people in Toledo, Ohio on Sunday night, according to Toledo police. A 17-year-old is dead after he was flown by helicopter to the University of Michigan Hospital for treatment, according to Toledo Police Chief George Kral.

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.