Shootings continue across America as three people were killed and 11 others wounded in a mass shooting in Philadelphia, late Saturday night on South Street amid the chaos that erupted on legendary blocks that have long been among the region’s most popular gathering places.
“Once it started I didn’t think it was going to stop,” said Joe Smith, 23, who was standing outside the Theater of the Living Arts on South between Third and Fourth Streets, when the shots rang out around 11:30 p.m.
Police say a total of 14 people were struck by gunfire in the incident and transported to local hospitals. Three people, two men, and a woman were later pronounced dead at the hospital. The conditions of the others who were wounded by gunfire remains unknown. Police Inspector D.F. Pace says police who were on patrol nearby responded to the sound of gunfire and observed multiple gunmen firing into a crowd.
Inspector Pace said during a news conference that an officer shot at a suspect. It is unclear if the suspect was hit, but Pace says the suspect appeared to stop firing and dropped his firearm after he came under fire. The weapon he dropped was equipped with an extended magazine, according to police.
The discharging officer was within 10-15 yards of the suspect, watching him shooting into the crowd, Pace said. “You can imagine there were hundreds of individuals just enjoying South Street, as they do every single weekend when this shooting broke out,” Pace said.
People gathering on South Street Saturday night can be seen running in surveillance footage from a business located near the deadly shooting. FOX 29’s Marcus Espinoza says the video shows the “pandemonium” as shots rang out.
Meanwhile, another shooting near a Tennessee nightclub that took place 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 and several remained in critical condition, 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 at a press conference. Kelly said his administration would announce new steps in the coming weeks aimed at reducing gun violence locally.
Then in Arizona, Two people are dead and two more are injured after a shooting outside a Mesa bar. Just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Mesa police were called to The Lounge Soho, near Southern Avenue and Alma School Road, for reports of a shooting Two males were found lying in the parking lot area with obvious gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Mesa Police Sergeant Chuck Trapani.
While searching the area police found two more victims that had non-life-threatening injuries. Both were taken to a hospital for treatment. The names and ages of the victims haven’t been released. When the first officers arrived at the scene they saw a silver passenger car leaving the area at a high rate of speed. Officers followed that vehicle and were able to stop it down the street. Three people inside the vehicle have been detained pending the outcome of the investigation.
