Global Courant
First, it was the shootings in Southern California that left revelers 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.
The weekend of violence in California also included a gunfight on Sunday with cars driving a mile along San Francisco’s wharf, injuring six.
But the wave of violence was not confined to the Golden State, as shootings — some fatal — made headlines in at least seven states during what should have been a weekend of celebration of fathers and freedom.
At least 12 people were killed in shootings from Friday to Sunday Pennsylvania to Idaho, and dozens were injured, some critically.
It was a “particularly violent weekend” in the US, said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. “California is not alone.”
But the incidents – while senseless and heartbreaking – were not necessarily a sign of a specific spike in crime, he said, noting that murders have decreased from last year and even more from the precipitous spike across the country in 2020.
“While it’s not clear whether the non-fatal shootings are following the same pattern, it’s fortunate that homicides are increasing,” Rosenfeld said. However, he noted that mass shootings continue to rise.
“I wouldn’t be too quick to suggest that what we’re seeing over the weekend is a significant spike in shootings or mass shootings in general,” he said. “They’ve become distressingly common in recent years.”
On Sunday night, six people were injured in a vehicular gunfight that began along Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Police Chief William Scott described it as a “car-to-car” shooting that lasted at least a mile.
Two cars zoomed past tourists and landmarks, Scott said. Witnesses heard dozens of shots, This is reported by KGO-TV in San Francisco.
“The cars were actually driving very recklessly and chasing each other exchanging gunfire,” Scott said at a news conference near Howard Street and the Embarcadero, from where one of the cars was eventually towed.
The gunfight started 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 was not immediately clear if any of the shots were involved in the shooting.
Three others were injured in what Scott described as “wandering gunfire,” as shards of glass flew through the air.
In addition, two girls walking across the street with their bicycles were hit by the speeding cars, Scott said. The 10-year-old was taken to hospital with injuries that were not deemed life-threatening; the 16-year-old was not injured.
“Very dangerous behavior, very dangerous driving,” Scott said. “Those injuries could have been a lot worse.”
Scott said officials are working to find a second car involved in the shooting. He called the situation a “targeted incident.” The San Francisco Chronicle reports that two people have been arrested.
San Francisco police did not respond to questions from The Times on Monday.
Shootings elsewhere in the US turned deadly. One, in Idaho, met with the US Department of Justice definition of a mass shooting: four dead, not counting the perpetrator.
“I’m not sure if this year isn’t all that different from the recent past,” Rosenfeld said. “These types of shootings are very common … where large crowds gather, and it’s usually on the weekend.”
Such was the case in Carson, where eight people, ranging in age from 16 to 24, were injured in a house party shooting early Saturday. At least two were listed in critical condition. Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Lizette Falcon had no update on their condition Monday.
At Liberty Station in San Diego, amid a Saturday night Juneteenth event that drew hundreds, officials said one person was killed and another wounded by gunfire. Police called it an “isolated incident” that appeared to stem from a dispute, but the gunfire caused 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 gunman fired “randomly” into the crowd at a Washington state campground near a music festival venue, police said. The gunman was one of three injured.
Early Sunday morning, near Willowbrook, Illinois, outside of Chicago, where hundreds had gathered in a parking lot for a Juneteenth celebration, at least 23 people were shot, a deadly one. Officials said “multiple shots from multiple weapons” had been fired.
Around the same time, 11 youths ranging in age from 15 to 19 were gunned down in St. Louis at what officials described as a party. according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A 17-year-old has died, police said.
Also early Sunday, a father and son were killed and a third injured in Madera County in central California, in which officials described as two related shootings. A suspect considered armed and dangerous has been identified, authorities said, but not arrested.
Late Sunday, in the deadliest of the shootings, police in the town of Kellogg, Idaho, responded to a multi-unit residence and found four dead.
Elsewhere, six were injured Friday night at a shooting in Baltimore; a man attacked a state police officer composite Saturday in central Pennsylvania in which one trooper was fatally shot and another wounded; and five were injured in a shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia, including a 4 year old.
The weekend seems to reinforce the findings of a recent survey that a majority of Americans have experienced gun violence.
“It’s not just people who live in urban areas. It’s not just one type of person. … It was really large proportions of people in all sorts of different demographics,” said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, who conducted the poll. She said the weekend’s shootings reinforce the need to treat gun violence in America as a public health problem.
“It’s hard to ignore that it’s 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.
