Philadelphia police officers and detectives review evidence at a June 5 shooting scene in Philadelphia. CHARLES FOX / The Associated Press
Mass shootings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, have left at least six dead and more than 25 injured, police said Sunday in the latest cases of gun violence following recent massacres in Texas, New York and Oklahoma.
Several gunmen opened fire on a busy South Street in Philadelphia, an area full of bars and restaurants, around midnight on Saturday. Two men and a woman were killed, authorities said.
A surveillance video of the shooting showed people in a street full of people running in panic in the final moments of the 22-second clip, presumably after the shots were fired. The clip had no audio. Reuters was able to verify the video by geolocation.
“There were hundreds of people enjoying South Street, as they do every weekend, when this shooting broke out,” Philadelphia Police Inspector DF Pace said.
In another incident, three people were killed and 14 were injured after a shooting near a bar in Chattanooga, authorities said, adding that two people died from gunshot wounds and one person she died of injuries after being hit by a vehicle while fleeing the scene. .
Three people were injured while trying to escape and were hit by vehicles, Tennessee officials said, adding that several of the injured remained in critical condition.
The incidents came after recent shootings that killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York; 21 victims at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; and four people in a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Arms security advocates are pushing the U.S. government to take tougher measures to curb armed violence.
There have been at least 240 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group. He defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.
Philadelphia police officers observed “several active shooters firing at the crowd,” with an officer “about 10 or 15 feet” from an individual firing at the crowd, police said. That officer shot the suspect, they said.
Police said the whereabouts of the Philadelphia shooters were not immediately known. Two pistols were recovered at the scene, including one with an extended magazine, authorities added. There were no immediate arrests.
Philadelphia police said Sunday afternoon that the shooting, which began after an altercation between two parties, left 12 injured. Police did not specify how many gunmen were involved, but said five guns were used.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney described the shooting as “horrible, despicable and pointless.” The dead were 22, 27 and 34 years old, while the ages of the wounded ranged from 17 to 69 years.
There were also several shooters in Tennessee, but Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy said police believe it was an isolated incident and authorities did not think there was a threat to public safety. More details about this shooting were not immediately available.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Congress to ban assault weapons, expand background checks, and implement other arms control measures to deal with the series of mass shootings.
Chris Murphy, the senior U.S. Democratic senator working in bipartisan arms security talks, said Sunday that he believes a package that includes investments in mental health and school safety and some changes to gun laws could approve the Congress.
A large majority of U.S. voters, both Republicans and Democrats, favor stronger gun control laws, but Republicans in Congress and some moderate Democrats have blocked the legislation for years.
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