In Philadelphia, criminals fired into the crowd in a popular nightlife district. Shots are also fired in Chattanooga. In both cases, the perpetrators are on the run.
Police officers cordon off the crime scene on busy South Street in Philadelphia.
(dpa) According to police, at least five people were shot dead and more than 20 others were injured, some seriously, in incidents in two American cities. Unknown people shot into the crowd on Sunday night (local time) in a nightlife district in the city of Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania, killing three people and eleven others suffering gunshot wounds, the police said. The injured were between 17 and 69 years old.
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, several perpetrators also fired weapons near a nightclub early Sunday morning (local time). Two people were killed and more than ten others injured. Three people were hit by cars of fleeing perpetrators, one was killed, the police said. Several of the injured were still in mortal danger, police chief Celeste Murphy told reporters on Sunday.
The background to the fact is still unclear. So far, no perpetrators have been caught, but it was not assumed that there would be a continuing danger to the public.
“Innocent passers-by” as victims
In Philadelphia, police chief Danielle Outlaw said initial investigation results indicated that there had been a violent confrontation in the busy area. Then the first shots were fired. One of the two men who was shot is said to have been involved in the incident. The other man and a woman who was killed and eleven injured were “innocent passers-by,” Outlaw said.
A police officer shot one of the attackers several times, after which he fled, it said. The police have seized two semi-automatic pistols, the perpetrators are volatile. “Numerous” ammunition casings were secured in busy South Street. At the time of the crime on Saturday, shortly before midnight (local time), there were hundreds of people in the area with numerous restaurants and bars, as is usual at the weekend. The police hope to get more information about the crime and the identity of the perpetrators through surveillance cameras. So far it is still unclear how many shooters there were and what the motive for the crime was.
series of violent acts
There is a long history of gun violence in the United States. Most recently, the country was shaken by a series of particularly sensational acts of violence. At the end of May, an 18-year-old opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The gunman entrenched himself in a classroom and killed 19 children and two teachers. A few days earlier, a gunman opened fire in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people and injuring three others. According to investigators, the act was racially motivated – 11 of the 13 victims were black.