Gun violence rocks nation over holiday weekend, with multi-victim shootings in at least 7 states
First, it was shootings in Southern California that sent revelers scrambling, fearing for their lives over the holiday weekend. One person was killed Saturday in San Diego during a Juneteenth celebration, and at least eight were injured in gunfire at a house party in Carson.
Hours later, in Madera County, a father and son were killed in two linked shootings.
California’s weekend of violence also included a shootout Sunday from cars traveling for a mile along San Francisco’s wharf, with six injured.
But the spate of violence was not confined to the Golden State, as shootings — some deadly — grabbed headlines in at least seven states on what was supposed to be a celebratory weekend of fathers and freedom.
At least 12 people died in shootings from Friday to Sunday, from Pennsylvania to Idaho, and dozens were wounded, some critically.
Mass shootings and violence — in cities and rural areas alike — killed and wounded people across the U.S. over the weekend, including California.
It was a “particularly violent weekend” across the U.S., said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri St. Louis. “California is not alone.”
But the incidents — though senseless and heartbreaking — were not necessarily a sign of any specific spike in crime, he said, noting that homicides are down from last year and even more from the steep spike nationwide in 2020.
“While it’s not clear whether the nonfatal shootings are following the same pattern, it is fortunate that homicides are coming down,” Rosenfeld said. However, he did note that mass shootings continue to rise.
“I wouldn’t be too quick to suggest that what we’re seeing over the past weekend is a substantial spike in shootings or mass shootings generally,” he said. “They have been distressingly common over the last few years.”
Gun violence has become the drumbeat of our days. We say we’re shocked, but we’re really not. We say we’re in disbelief, yet we’re really not.
On Sunday evening, six people were injured during a vehicular shootout that began along San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Police Chief William Scott described it as a “car-to-car” shooting that went on for at least a mile.
Two cars zoomed past tourists and sightseeing spots, firing back and forth, Scott said. Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots, according to KGO-TV in San Francisco.
“The cars basically drove very recklessly and chased each other while engaged in exchange of gunfire,” Scott said during a news conference near Howard Street and the Embarcadero, from where one of the cars was eventually towed.
The shootout began near Stockton and Beach streets, near the famous Pier 39, about a mile north of where it ended, Scott said.
Two people were shot, one of whom suffered life-threatening injuries, Scott said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether either of those shot were involved in the shootout.
Three others were injured in what Scott described as “errant gunfire,” as glass shards flew through the air.
Additionally, two girls who were walking their bikes across the street were struck by the speeding cars, Scott said. The 10-year-old was taken to the hospital with injuries that were deemed not life-threatening; the 16-year-old was not hurt.
“Very dangerous behavior, very dangerous driving,” Scott said. “Those injuries could have been much worse.”
Scott said officials are working to find a second car that was involved in the shootout. He called the situation a “targeted incident.” The San Francisco Chronicle reported that two people are in custody.
San Francisco police did not respond to questions from The Times on Monday.
The victims in the Carson shooting ranged in age from 16 to 24, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Shootings elsewhere in the U.S. turned deadly. One, in Idaho, met the U.S. Department of Justice’s definition of a mass shooting: four deaths, not including the perpetrator.
“I’m not certain this year is not all that different than in the recent past,” Rosenfeld said. “These kinds of shootings very often occur … where large crowds gather, and it’s typically over the weekend.”
That was the case in Carson, where eight people, ranging in age from 16 to 24, were injured early Saturday in a shooting at a house party. At least two were listed in critical condition. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Lizette Falcon had no update Monday on their condition.
At San Diego’s Liberty Station, amid a Juneteenth event Saturday night that drew hundreds, gunfire killed one person and wounded another, according to officials. Police called it an “isolated incident” that appeared to stem from a dispute, but the gunshots sparked chaos at what was supposed to be a family-friendly event, witnesses said.
Also that night, two people were killed and three were injured when a shooter fired “randomly” into the crowd at a Washington state campground near a venue where a music festival was taking place, police said. The shooter was among the three who were hurt.
Early Sunday, near Willowbrook, Ill., outside Chicago, where hundreds had gathered at a parking lot for a Juneteenth celebration, at least 23 people were shot, one fatally. Officials said “multiple rounds from multiple weapons” were fired.
About the same time in St. Louis, 11 youths ranging in age from 15 to 19 were shot at what officials described as a party, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A 17-year-old died, officials said.
Mass shootings and violence — in cities and rural areas alike — killed and wounded people across the U.S. over the weekend, including California.
Also early Sunday, a father and son were killed and a third person injured in Madera County in central California, in what officials described as two related shootings. A suspect who is considered armed and dangerous has been identified, authorities said, but has not been arrested.
Late Sunday, in the deadliest of the shootings, law enforcement in the town of Kellogg, Idaho, responded to a multi-unit residence and found four dead.
Elsewhere, six were injured Friday night in a Baltimore shooting; a man attacked a state police compound Saturday in central Pennsylvania, fatally shooting one trooper and wounding another; and five were wounded in a shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia, including a 4-year-old.
The weekend seems to reinforce the findings from a recent survey that a majority of Americans have experienced gun violence.
“It’s not just people living in urban areas. It’s not just one type of person. … It was really large shares of people in all kinds of different demographic groups,” said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research with the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the poll. She said the weekend’s shootings reinforce the need to treat gun violence in America as a public health issue.
“It is hard to ignore that it is a health issue when you look at things like guns being the leading cause of death for children in this country,” Hamel said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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