Gun violence escalated over the July 4th weekend, with shootings reported in nearly every US state that killed at least 220 people and injured nearly 570, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The database, which collects information about deaths and injuries related to accidents involving firearms, updated its records early Tuesday. Published statistics show that the number of shootings over the weekend was almost identical to the number of casualties, with more than 500 cases of armed violence documented across the country between Friday and Monday. There were only three states where not one or more shootings had occurred in that time frame.
Of all the gun violence incidents recorded over the weekend, at least 11 They are classified as mass shootings by the Gun Violence Archive. Any situation in which four or more people, except for the shooter, are killed or injured by gunshots is considered a mass shooting. The database lists 315 mass shootings across the country since the beginning of this year, and nearly 22,500 deaths resulting from any form of gun violence. The number of casualties tracked so far due to armed violence is close to the total death toll.
Seeing an increase in gun violence on the Fourth of July is not uncommon in the United States, and last weekend’s reports from the Gun Violence Archive mirror reports from previous years. In 2021, More than 180 people They were killed and 516 wounded in a shooting that took place over the same weekend.
The devastating effects of gun violence were widespread during the holiday, but some areas were hardest hit than others. In Highland Park, an Illinois suburb about 25 miles north of Chicago, at least six people have died and more than 30 have been injured. mass shooting Targeting the Fourth of July parade in the neighborhood. Highland Park fire chief Joe Schrag said Monday that some of the victims, including at least one child, were in critical condition when they were removed from the scene.
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About nine hours after the gunman opened fire on attendees at the Highland Park parade, authorities arrested Important person, whom they knew as Robert Cremo III, in connection with the shooting. Cremo was not charged in the attack.
But the Highland Park shooting was far from the only crime involving gun violence in the Chicago area over the weekend. The city confirmed eight deaths and 68 injuries from armed violence in the city in the days leading up to July 4th, as well as during the holiday itself, it said. CBS Chicago. The victims’ ages reportedly ranged from 17 to 90 years old.
