July 4 gun violence: 14 dead and scores wounded in U.S. mass shootings

It was another holiday in America marred by gun violence.

At least 14 people were killed and scores of others were injured in more than a dozen mass shootings across the country over a four-day span as people were gathering to celebrate the Fourth of July.

President Biden condemned the killings, urging lawmakers in a statement to “address the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart.”

• In Baltimore, two people were killed and 28 others were wounded in a shooting at a block party early Sunday. (Read more on Yahoo via ABC News)
  

• In Fort Worth, Texas, three people were killed and eight others were wounded when, police say, several men fired indiscriminately into a crowd of hundreds following an annual festival in the city’s historically Black neighborhood of Como late Monday. (CNN)
  

• In Shreveport, La., four people were killed and seven others were injured in a shooting during that community’s annual July 4 celebration. (ABC)
  

• In Philadelphia, five people were killed and two others were wounded when, authorities say, a suspect armed with an AR-15-style rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest appeared to fire randomly along several city blocks on Monday night. (CNN)
  

• In Washington, D.C., nine people were wounded in what police called a “targeted” shooting in the northeast part of the nation’s capital early Wednesday. (AP)

There were also reported mass shootings in Boston; Lansing, Mich.; Charlotte, N.C.; Akron, Ohio; Indianapolis; Salisbury, Md.; Edgewood, Md.; Truman, Minn.; Hayward, Calif.; Paterson, N.J.; and the Bronx, N.Y., per the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which there are at least four victims, injured or killed, not including the shooter.

Philadelphia shooting suspect arraigned

The suspect in the mass shooting in Philadelphia, identified as Kimbrady Carriker, was ordered held without bail following an arraignment on Wednesday morning.

Carriker was charged with five counts of murder as well as attempted murder, aggravated assault and simple assault, among others.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told CNN that the shooting was “a random, premeditated, deliberate killing,” and that Carriker appeared to have no connection to any of the victims.

“This was someone who set out to kill strangers, which of course has become way too common in the United States,” Krasner said.

According to prosecutors, Carriker was carrying a scanner that tracks emergency response radio traffic and a “ghost gun” in addition to the AR-style rifle used to carry out the spree.

Chaotic scene in Fort Worth

The shooting in Fort Worth occurred about two hours after the end of an Independence Day celebration called ComoFest at a nearby park, where several men fired indiscriminately into a large crowd, police said.

Police said responding officers found a chaotic scene, with multiple victims in a parking lot as people were trying to flee on foot and in vehicles.

Ka’Desha Weatherly, whose 18-year-old son, Paul Willis, was among those killed, told the Dallas Morning News that she heard “what sounded like 100 gunshots” and began running down the street to find her son and nephews. Weatherly found her nephews but not her son. She told the newspaper that she hadn’t realized she had run past his body.

No arrests have been made, and no suspects have been identified.

9 people shot in D.C.

According to authorities, nine people, including two juveniles, were shot and wounded in northeast Washington, D.C., shortly before 1 a.m. on Wednesday.

All the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Leslie Parsons said in a video statement posted to Twitter.

No arrests have been made, and it is unclear whether there were multiple shooters.

A dark-colored SUV was seen driving through the neighborhood before shots rang out as people were outside enjoying the Fourth of July holiday, Parsons said, adding that it appears the shooting was “targeted.”

A grim anniversary

The string of shootings came nearly a year after the July 4, 2022, massacre in Highland Park, Ill., where a gunman wielding a high-powered semiautomatic rifle fired more than 80 rounds into an unsuspecting crowd of parents, grandparents and children who had gathered for the town’s annual Fourth of July parade.

Seven people were killed, including the parents of a toddler, and dozens more were injured.

After an eight-hour manhunt, during which authorities urged local residents to shelter in place, police arrested Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, who authorities said quickly confessed to the killings.

Biden condemns ‘epidemic of gun violence’

In a statement released by the White House, Biden condemned the country’s latest round of mass shootings.

“Over the last few days, our nation has once again endured a wave of tragic and senseless shootings in communities across America,” he said. “As our nation celebrates Independence Day, we pray for the day when our communities will be free from gun violence.”

Biden also marked the anniversary of the shooting in Highland Park by praising Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other officials for passing a statewide ban on assault weapons as well as on high-capacity magazines in response to the Independence Day massacre.

“Their achievement will save lives,” Biden said. “But it will not erase their grief. It will not bring back the seven Americans killed in Highland Park or heal the injuries and trauma that scores of others will continue to carry. And as we have seen over the last few days, much more must be done in Illinois and across America to address the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart.”