Tragedy struck in Philadelphia on Monday night as at least four individuals lost their lives and two children sustained injuries in a mass shooting, according to the local police. This incident adds to the ongoing gun violence crisis plaguing the United States.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw informed journalists that all the victims who lost their lives were males ranging in age from 20 to 59. Additionally, two children, aged two and 13, sustained injuries in the incident.
Outlaw disclosed that near the scene of the shooting in the Kingsessing neighborhood, law enforcement officers detained the suspected shooter, a 40-year-old person who was equipped with a rifle and a handgun and wearing a bulletproof vest.
‘I don’t know if he was firing the rifle at the time we were pursuing or the handgun, but yes he was actively shooting a firearm at the time our officers were pursuing,’ she said.
Contrary to earlier reports from local media stating that four individuals had been injured in the shooting, Commissioner Outlaw clarified that the number of wounded individuals stood at two, specifically two children.
Commissioner Outlaw stated that local media footage depicted an extensive crime scene where the police had cordoned off an area spanning a minimum of eight city blocks.
‘We have absolutely no idea why this happened. Like I said we have this person in custody and we are doing what we can to positively identify this person,’ she added.
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Authorities stated that a second person, who they think returned fire during the incident, has been apprehended by the police.
‘At some point as victims were being shot, we have another person that we believe acquired a gun somehow… and returned fire in the direction of the shooter that we have in custody,’ Outlaw said.
As reported by the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), Monday’s shooting contributes to a distressing total of 341 recorded incidents of gun violence in the United States this year. Shockingly, the GVA’s figures reveal that the cumulative number of fatalities has risen to 21,696, which includes 12,144 suicides.
As per the Gun Violence Archive’s (GVA) definition, a ‘mass shooting’ refers to an incident involving firearms where four or more individuals are either injured or lose their lives.
A staggering number of 44,357 lives were lost to gun violence in the United States last year. The prevalence of suicides accounted for over half of these heartbreaking fatalities.
Over the weekend, a block party in the eastern city of Baltimore was marred by violence, leading to the deaths of two people and the injury of 28 others in a shooting.