A Philadelphia school teacher, an Arizona teenager, and a Chicago police officer were among hundreds killed by gunfire over the weekend, part of a continuing wave of shootings that have pushed gun violence to the forefront of American politics.
According to GunViolenceArchive.org, a Washington DC non-profit organization that tracks shootings, more than 124 people have been killed and 325 injured in more than 300 shootings recorded in the United States since Friday.
The outbreak of violence over the weekend came on the heels of a series of deadly mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, that re-ignited a national debate over tighter restrictions on gun ownership. Rights advocates protested fiercely.
Following the weekend’s shootings, several big city mayors expressed dismay at the impact of the violence on their communities.
“I’m tired of standing in front of you talking about guns and dead bodies,” Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly told a news conference on Sunday.
“The gun violence we’ve seen across the country and here in Philadelphia makes me not only sad, but also angry,” Mayor Jim Kenney said on Sunday. A crowded bar in the city’s South Street district.
The Philadelphia shooting escalated late Saturday night from a confrontation between two men who exchanged words as they passed each other on the street, sparking an altercation that involved at least four people, officials said Monday, officials said. Weapons were included.
Two suspects, one of whom shot in the arm when he opened fire in the scuffle, were taken into custody on Monday, according to Joan Pescatore, an assistant district attorney for the city.
Chris Miners, a second-grade resident counselor at Philadelphia’s Girard College, a private boarding school, was among those who lost his life in the shooting, according to the Pennsylvania Teachers’ Association.
“We see lives needlessly lost and wounded in yet another gruesome, brazen and despicable act of gun violence,” Kenny said.
On Monday, in response to gun violence, New York Governor Cathy Hochul signed 10 gun control bills into law. Read full story.
Lawmakers in Washington DC are also looking at a number of gun control measures, but any new federal gun law faces heavy hurdles from Republicans, especially in the Senate. read full story,
“There must be change now,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a tweet. A 14-year-old girl was killed and eight others were injured in a shooting at a strip mall on Saturday.
Police officers were also shot in Baltimore and Chicago over the weekend. A policeman was injured during a traffic stop on Chicago’s South Side on Sunday afternoon, becoming the second officer to be wounded by gunfire in the area in the past four days.
“How many officers and residents must be victims of gun violence before we can act?” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement after the shooting.
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