At least 9 dead in weekend mass shootings
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — At least three shootings in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Tennessee left nine people dead and multiple others injured late Saturday and early Sunday, authorities said.
The weekend shootings occurred in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Okla. Also, the recent Memorial Day weekend saw multiple shootings nationwide.
In Michigan: Three people were killed in an early morning shooting Sunday in Saginaw, about 100 miles northwest of Detroit.
MLive.com reported that police responded to a report of multiple gunshots around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Two men were pronounced dead at the scene. A woman died later at a hospital of her wounds.
Two other men also were shot.
They arrived at a hospital in personal vehicles and were being treated for their injuries, according to a news release from the Saginaw Police Department.
In Pennsylvania: Gunfire from several shooters killed three people and wounded at least 11 others in a popular Philadelphia entertainment district late Saturday night, authorities said.
Police officers were patrolling the area on South Street in central Philadelphia about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when they heard multiple shots. Racing to the scene, they found several people with gunshot wounds lying on the sidewalk and in the street and began to render aid, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
Outlaw said the dead were a 34-year-old man, a 27-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man. Investigators believe one of the three killed was involved in “a physical altercation” with another man, and those two began firing at each other, with both struck by gunfire
and one killed, Outlaw said.
She called it “a dark day” for the city when many people out enjoying a beautiful day were victims of “horrendous and unthinkable acts ... in a very popular local and tourist hangout.”
In Tennessee: A shooting near a Chattanooga nightclub early Sunday led to three deaths and 14 people suffering gunshot wounds and other injuries, police said.
Fourteen people were hit by gunfire and three were hit by vehicles while trying to flee the scene, according to Chattanooga police Chief Celeste Murphy. Two people died from gunshot wounds and one person died after being hit by a vehicle. Sixteen of the victims were adults and one was a juvenile, she said.
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, who described himself as an “avid hunter” and gun owner, called on Congress to enact “common sense regulations” to address gun violence.
Kelly is an independent.
“That doesn’t mean taking guns away from responsible gun owners, but it does mean mandatory background checks and prohibiting high-capacity magazines that allow shooters to hurt dozens of people without even having to reload,” he said. Kelly said his administration would announce new steps soon aimed at reducing gun violence locally.