Friday’s US Independence Day holiday was marked by multiple shootings across the US, including one in Indianapolis that left at least two dead and five wounded as a police chief voiced frustration over the latest acts of violence in his city.
Indianapolis metropolitan police chief Chris Bailey told reporters early Saturday morning that the Fourth of July mayhem a day earlier was “completely unacceptable and unnecessary” – and that parents and guardians needed to better control their children.
“Hundreds of unsupervised kids down here,” he said, while speaking in the city’s downtown. “I don’t know how many times I had to say it: We are not your children’s keepers. You are! And parents and guardians have got to step up.”
Police said one minor had died at a hospital after the shooting.
Mass shootings – defined as cases where four or more shooting victims are injured or killed – were reported in other cities, including Philadelphia and Chicago and Brockton, Massachusetts, where six people were hospitalized following an early morning fight Saturday.
Violence and shootings often surge in the summer months, especially around the Fourth of July, historically one of the deadliest days of the year in the US.
The shooting in Chicago, which left seven people in serious or critical condition, came on the heels of another mass shooting that happened late Wednesday in that city in a busy neighborhood known for its restaurants and nightlife. Four people were killed and 14 others injured.
As of Saturday, there had been more than 205 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive. Perennially high numbers of mass shootings in the US have prompted many to call for more meaningful gun control, though Congress has largely left such pleas unheeded over the years.
In the New York City borough of Queens, police said one person was dead and three injured in a triple stabbing following fireworks celebrating the 249th anniversary of the US’s declaration of independence from the UK.
Meanwhile, a Wareham, Massachusetts, man is dead after being hit by a firework. Police said they found 70-year-old Robert Spagnuolo with a “facial injury”. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials in Georgia reported two boat explosions Friday on lakes. Seven people ranging in age from five to 45 suffered second- and third-degree burns when a boat exploded on Lake Lanier, according to the Georgia department of natural resources.
Seven more people suffered burns when a boat exploded and then sank on Lake Nottely, the department said.