Photo:WBRZ
WBRZ
A July 4th celebration in Shreveport, La., ended in the shooting deaths of at least four people, and the search for bodies continues in the heavily wooded area, Sgt. Angie Willhite of the Shreveport Police Department told PEOPLE in an interview Wednesday afternoon.
Seven others were injured — one critically — in the shooting, she said.
An estimated 300 people were at an annual block party near a wooded area in a rural part of Shreveport celebrating Independence Day and a birthday party when a group of young men, who had not been invited to the party, showed up, Willhite said, noting that an argument ensued and at least two people fired into the crowd shortly before midnight July 4.
Willhite described officers pushing through the “very tight” streets congested with some 100 shocked people remaining in the area among the injured. “We literally had officers running in and dragging injured people out,” she said.
“We’re still searching the area to make sure we don’t have any other people out there,” Willhite said, noting that the rural neighborhood includes a wooded area and horse pasture.
Monday night, a 40-year-old suspect wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a semi-automatic rifle, a handgun, a police scanner and multiple magazines of ammunition, allegedly shot into a street of people in Philadelphia,killing five people and injuring two boys. The children – ages 2 and 13 – are in stable condition, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw saidat a press conference Monday. Then, hours later,11 people, including a child, were shot in a parking lot in Fort Worth, Texas, shortly before midnight. At least three people died.
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“As we have seen over the last few days,” President Biden said in the statement. “Much more must be done in Illinois and across America to address the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart.”
No arrests have been made in the Shreveport shooting, but police believe that at least two people are responsible for it, Willhite said, noting that investigators have recovered shell casings from a handgun and a rifle. A motive has not yet been determined.
It is not yet clear if the shooters were the uninvited guests, party congregates or both, Willhite said, noting that officers are pulling video surveillance footage and continuing to canvas the neighborhood. Party congregants have so far shared very little information about the shooters, hindering the investigation, she said. Police have many unanswered questions, Willhite said: “Who fired the first shot, who was the aggressor – obviously, you don’t show up to a party that you’re not invited to, that’s where it begins – but gunfire isn’t the answer.”
About an hour after the Shreveport shooting, more than 1,000 miles away inWashington, D.C., another person shot into a crowd of July 4 celebrants, hitting and injuring 9 people including two children just before 1 a.m. Wednesday,CNN reported.
By the end of the July 4 holiday weekend, Gun Violence Archive had recorded 356 mass shootings so far this year.
source: people.com
