Over the July Fourth holiday weekend, the nation was shaken by three separate mass shooting incidents, all occurring within a harrowing 24-hour timeframe.
In Baltimore, two people were killed and 28 wounded in a mass shooting at a block party overnight Sunday in the southern end of the city. All the victims are adults.
"This was a reckless act of cowardly violence that has taken two lives and altered many many more," said Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott.
The shooting showed widespread signs of chaos as the panic-stricken crowd fled a storm of gunfire.
An 18-year-old woman died at the scene, and a 20-year-old later died at the hospital.Three other victims are in critical condition.
The chaos created a large crime scene, marring the July Fourth weekend celebrations in the town where the Star-Spangled Banner was written.
"When we get some daylight, we do another canvas, and our k9 units were able to locate more shell casings, so we had to put up more crime scene tape and recover those things," said Michael Harrison, Baltimore police commissioner.
2 dead, 28 injured in mass shooting at Baltimore block party
The deceased victims were ages 18 and 20. Of the injured, three remain in critical condition.
Police are still looking for suspects and looking for videos on social media.
"This tragic incident is another glaring, unfortunate example of the deep issues of violence in Baltimore, in Maryland, in this country, and particularly gun violence and the access to illegal guns," said Scott.
"This is a societal problem we’re dealing with—a mass shooting where a disagreement turned into 28 people shot," said State Sen. Bill Ferguson, D-MD.
In Kansas, seven people were wounded overnight Sunday as a shotgun-wielding suspect blasted his way into a nightclub in Wichita. The gunfire triggered panic inside, and two more people were injured trying to escape.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a dispute turned into a gun battle outside a concert, resulting in three injuries, one critically.
"We had a large gathering, and a shooting erupted," said Sgt. Angela Emberton of the Tulsa Police Department.
Gun violence is tearing through American streets and showing no signs of stopping.
We are on the 183rd day of the year, and the websiteGun Violence Archive reports that, to date, there have been almost 340 mass shootings in 2023.
