Cities across US rocked by Memorial Day weekend shootings
Even as the first funerals of the 21 victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting were commencing, gunfire continued to wreak havoc across the United States over the Memorial Day weekend as police in eight major cities investigated incidents in which three or more people were shot, including 16 children.
The gun violence was especially acute in Philadelphia and Chicago, where police departments in both cities dispatched officers to more than 40 shootings between Friday afternoon and Monday night.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that keeps track of shootings across the country, there have been 17 episodes across the nation in which four or more people have been shot since the Uvalde mass shooting on May 24.
14 fatally shot in Philly
At least 14 people, including a 9-year-old boy and his father, were killed in Philadelphia over the holiday weekend.
Philadelphia has already recorded 209 homicides this year, just three less than at this time in 2021 -- a year that saw a record 562 homicides, according to Philadelphia Police Department crime statistics.
Among those killed this weekend in Philadelphia were 37-year-old Gerald Parks and his 9-year-old son, Jamal. Police said the father and son had just arrived home in the city's Wissinoming section Sunday night when a barrage of gunfire erupted.
Parks and his son, who were coming from a holiday cookout, were found dead in their car. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.
In a separate episode Monday evening, one person was killed and another was seriously injured when at least 70 shots were fired in a North Philadelphia neighborhood near Temple University, police said. Apparently several shooters, who remain unidentified and at large, were involved in the incident at about 6:30 p.m. and four guns were found at the scene, according to police.
Hours later, more than 40 gunshots rang out at a party in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, leaving a 16-year-old girl and a 21-year-old woman dead, according to police. Investigators believe that at least two gunmen were involved in the shooting that also left a 14-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man injured. No arrests have been announced.
Also on Monday, three people were shot, one fatally, on a street in West Philadelphia, police said. One of the victims shot is believed to be an innocent bystander who was hit by a stray bullet, according to police.
The shooting happened around 11 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a 32-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Police also learned a 29-year-old woman who was a passenger in a moving car was hit by a stray bullet and critically injured. The third victim ran and was found shot twice in the leg a few blocks away by officers and paramedics.
Police said at least 34 spent shell casings were found at the West Philadelphia crime scene.
"This violence must stop. Families and friends are losing loved ones, and our youth are having their lives and potential cut short," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted Monday night. "We must all work together to end this heartbreaking, maddening epidemic and make a safer city for everyone."
9 killed in Chicago
At least 47 people were injured and nine killed in a series of shootings across Chicago over the weekend, according to police.
Five people, including a 16-year-old girl, were shot in one incident in Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood early Sunday morning. The shooting occurred during a gathering to commemorate a teenager who was fatally shot two years ago, according to police.
Shell casings from at least three guns, including an AK-47 rifle, were found at the scene, police said. No arrests have been announced.
Also on Sunday, a 69-year-old man was killed and four other people were injured in a shooting that erupted in Chicago's West Humboldt Park neighborhood, police said. Police said the shooting stemmed from a domestic violence incident and that a 23-year-old man who was shot in the foot has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Chicago has recorded 232 homicides this year, a 10% decrease from the same period in 2021, according to police department crime statistics.
The shootings in Chicago this weekend came despite an order canceling days off for police officers over the Memorial Day weekend and the city expanding the hours of a curfew on minors unaccompanied by adults in Millennium Park, a major tourist attraction where a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot two weeks ago.
10 people shot in Charleston
Ten people, including a 17-year-old, were injured in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, late Monday night, including a police officer, when gunfire erupted. The incident remained under investigation Tuesday.
The shooting unfolded at about 11:40 p.m., police said.
In the aftermath of the shooting, several fights broke out and two officers were assaulted, according to police. Two women were arrested and charged with the assaults on the police officers, authorities said.
6 teenagers shot in Chattanooga
Six teenagers were shot and wounded, two critically, Saturday night when multiple people opened fire in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, during a confrontation between two large groups of young people, authorities said.
Chattanooga police officers were patrolling the downtown area at around 11 p.m. when they heard the gunshots and immediately responded to help those injured, Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy said during a news conference on Sunday.
No arrests have been announced.
7 injured, 1 killed, in shooting at Memorial Day event in Oklahoma
One person was killed and seven were injured after a shooting broke out during a Memorial Day festival in Oklahoma.
About 1,500 people were in attendance at the festival at the Old City Square in Taft, about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, when the shooting took place just after midnight Sunday, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
A 39-year-old woman was killed in the incident and a 9-year-old child was among those injured, authorities said.
Police said the 26-year-old suspect, Skyler Buckner, turned himself in Sunday afternoon.
4 shot at Houston party
Gunfire erupted at a Houston house party Sunday night, leaving four people wounded, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
All of the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. But police said one of the shooting victims hit and killed a motorcyclist while attempting to drive himself to a hospital.
Teenager killed, five injured in Phoenix shooting
An 18-year-old man was fatally shot and five other teenagers were wounded during a shooting at a house party in Phoenix, Arizona early Sunday.
Police said the wounded victims ranged in age 16 to 18, and all are expected to survive.
No arrests have been announced and police said at least two different guns were used in the shooting.
1 dead, 6 hurt, in Michigan bar shooting
A shooting outside a Michigan bar left a 19-year-old man dead and six other people injured early Sunday morning.
The shooting unfolded around 2:30 a.m. outside the Ajay's Lounge and A and D Liquor Store in Benton Harbor.
Witnesses told ABC affiliate WBND in South Bend, Indiana, that prior to the shooting, a fight broke over a ticketed event Ajay’s Lounge in which a rapper people thought was going to perform only made an appearance.
No arrests have been announced in the shooting.
7 hurt in Nevada freeway shooting involving motorcycle gangs
Seven people were injured, two critically, Saturday when gunfire erupted on a freeway in Henderson, Nevada, police said.
The Henderson Police Department said a preliminary investigation indicates the shooting occurred just before noon on Interstate 95 and stemmed from an altercation between members of rival motorcycle gangs.
Three suspects were identified and arrested on charges of attempted murder, felony battery, conspiracy to commit murder and discharging a gun at occupied vehicles. Police identified the suspects as 66-year-old Richard Devries, 46-year-old Stephen Alo and 26-year-old Russell Smith.
4 people shot in Memphis
Four people were shot Friday night near a rogue car show in Memphis, Tennessee, police said.
One of the people wounded in the shooting was arrested and charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.
It was unclear if the 27-year-old man taken into custody was involved in the shooting.
Police said the victims all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
6 shot at Alabama graduation party
Six people, including a 14-year-old child, were injured in a shooting at a graduation party in Anniston, Alabama, on Friday, police said.
About 150 people were at the party when the shooting broke out in the town about 64 miles east of Birmingham, police said.
Investigators said they recovered dozens of shell casings at the scene and that multiple cars in the area were struck by gunfire.
No arrests were announced.
Florida house party shooting leaves 4 wounded
Four teenagers were shot when a fight broke out at a house party in Malabar, Florida, on Saturday night, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.
The shooting erupted just before midnight in the city about 77 miles southwest of Orlando, authorities said.
The victims ranged in age from 15 to 18 and all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the sheriff's office said.
No arrests have been announced.
1 killed, 3 injured in Fresno, California
A teenager was killed and three others were injured in a shooting near a park in downtown Fresno, California, on Friday, police said.
The shooting started about 9 p.m. near Radio Park and left a 17-year-old boy dead. A 15-year-old boy and two 16-year-olds were wounded in the shooting, according to the Fresno Police Department.
The injured victims are all expected to survive, police said.
No arrests have been made.
1 dead, 3 injured in Colorado Springs
An 18-year-old man was killed and three 18-year-old women were wounded in a drive-by shooting early Friday in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The victims were standing in the parking lot of a bar around 1:15 a.m. when gunfire erupted from a passing car, police said.
No arrests have been announced.
A mother, 3 children fatally shot in Michigan
A 40-year-old mother and her three children -- ages 6, 4 and 3 -- were allegedly shot to death on Friday by the stepfather of the children, police said.
The quadruple homicide occurred at a house in Austin Township, Michigan, north of Grand Rapids, according to the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office.
The stepfather of the children, identified by relatives as Charles Gillard, 51, is suspected of committing the killings around 2:30 p.m. Friday, according to the sheriff's office.
Charles Gillard was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was in critical condition at a hospital on Tuesday, the sheriff's office said.
Relatives identified the victims as Dawn Gillard and her children, 6-year-old Katelynn, 4-year-old Ronald, and 3-year-old Joshua.
"I am in total shock. I am so devastated," Hailey Salisbury, the daughter of Dawn Gillard's daughter and the half-sister to the young children who were killed, told ABC affiliate station WZZM in Grand Rapids.
