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Gun violence rages deep through US

China Daily Global | Updated: 2020-07-07 09:39

Friends, family and residents of the Logan Square neighborhood attend a vigil for 10-year-old Lena Nunez on June 29, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Nunez was shot and killed by stray bullet while watching television with her brother in her grandmother's Logan Square home on June 27. [Photo/Agencies]

Holiday weekend sees 29 killed against backdrop of calls to defund police forces

Cities across the United States suffered a wave of gun violence over the Fourth of July weekend.

Reports from around the country showed that at least 32 people died and more than 150 were injured in shootings over the Independence Day holiday weekend.

Police said 17 people were killed in separate shootings in Chicago, including a 7-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy.

This is the third week in a row that involved the death of a young child. A 20-month-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were killed in separate shootings last weekend; and a week earlier, five children were fatally shot, including a 3-year-old boy, the Chicago Tribune reported on Sunday.

"We cannot grow numb to this. We are making progress in slowing shootings, but we have to do better, every single one of us," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted.

The Chicago Police Department added more than 1,200 extra officers to work during the holiday weekend, but the dispatch was fewer than the 1,500 deployed last year.

In New York City over the weekend, more than 50 people were shot, with at least six dying of their injuries, according to police and local news reports.

New York City has seen a surge in gun violence in the past few months. According to the NYPD's citywide crime statistics for May, there were 100 shooting incidents, representing a 64 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The city reported 63 shootings last week, a 142 percent increase compared with the same week in 2019, according to NBC New York.

It's currently unclear what has contributed to the surge. Some have blamed it on the NYPD's decision to disband a 600-member undercover anti-crime unit in mid-June. But Mayor Bill de Blasio has denied the link between the two and supported this decision of the NYPD.

'Significant rise'

In a tweet on Sunday, US President Donald Trump criticized the situation in the two cities and offered help.

"Chicago and New York City crime numbers are way up ... Shootings up significantly in NYC where people are demanding that @NYGovCuomo & @NYCMayor act now. Federal Government ready, willing and able to help, if asked!" Trump said.

In New York, the city council passed an $88.1 billion budget last week that shifted $1 billion in funding away from the NYPD. The move came amid weeks of protest and social unrest following the May 25 killing in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, a black man, died when a white officer knelt on his neck. His killing led to nationwide protests over how the US is policed, along with calls to defund the police.

"As I said when I voted NO on the budget: Violent crime is skyrocketing in NYC. This isn't the time to defund the NYPD," Councilman Chaim Deutsch tweeted on Sunday. "Hold your elected officials accountable for their vote. Their virtue signaling has made you less safe."

In Philadelphia, four people, including a 6-year-old boy, were killed and 12 others injured in 11 separate shootings over the weekend, NBC Philadelphia reported.

'Vacuum of authority'

In Atlanta, more than 20 people were injured in shootings and three killed, including an 8-year-old girl, over the weekend, police said.

Authorities said the girl, Secoriea Turner, was in a car near a flashpoint of recent protests with her mother and another adult when the driver attempted to drive through illegally placed barricades to get to a parking lot in the area on Saturday night. A group of armed individuals had blocked the entrance.

The shooting happened near the Wendy's restaurant where a black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by a white police officer on June 12. The fast-food outlet was later burned, and the area has since become a site for frequent demonstrations against police brutality.

Police said in a statement that someone in the group opened fire on the vehicle, striking it multiple times and hitting the child. The driver took Secoriea to Atlanta Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

Police were seeking help from the public to identify those involved and released a wanted poster announcing a $10,000 reward.

"You shot and killed a baby," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. "And there wasn't just one shooter, there were at least two shooters."

Russell Covey, Georgia State University criminal law professor, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "There seems to be withdrawal by police. The lack of a police presence may create something of a vacuum of authority."

In South Carolina, two people were fatally shot, and eight others wounded at a nightclub in Greenville on Sunday morning. No one was immediately taken into custody.

Heng Weili in New York, Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.

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