Gunfire replaces holiday fireworks in many US cities

The sound of fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend in many US cities was actually the crack of gunfire.

A police officer in New York was shot in the back of his ballistic vest and injured during an encounter with an 18-year-old who was armed. A second officer was also hurt while arresting the suspect after a foot chase. Police said the two officers were parked in an unmarked vehicle when the armed suspect approached the car, prompting the officers to exit the vehicle and engage with him.

"This has to stop," said Scott Munro, president of the Detective's Endowment Association. "Our members are out there day and night, hours and hours protecting the people of the city of New York, doing a job that they took an oath to take and they need to be respected, and thank God this detective is going home," Munro said at a news conference on Sunday.

The shooting of the officer came after at least eight people were shot in Coney Island, including four children. All were in stable condition, apart from one 21-year-old woman listed as critical. New York police said a masked gunman opened fire on the group, who were having a family barbeque, then fled on foot.

"There is no place for this kind of violence in our city. We will not tolerate it. We will fight it with every single tool at our disposal," New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference.

"As we mourn alongside those whose loved ones have been hurt, let us also recommit ourselves to the work of building a city where every celebration is safe and every holiday is joyful," Mamdani said.

Police are still trying to identify the suspect.

In Chicago, 21 people were shot in a number of incidents, two of whom died, and three others were stabbed.

The most severe incident involved a shooting of six people, who Chicago police said were standing in a crowd when unidentified individuals opened fire on them. The victims, between the ages of 17 and 20, were all listed in good condition.

That shooting occurred just nine minutes after a 17-year-old girl was shot on the same block. The girl remained in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the chest, and police are trying to determine how or if the two incidents are linked.

Chicago police said that over the Fourth of July weekend, 18 people were shot, three of whom died, and two officers were injured.

Authorities said at least 52 people were shot across the country, with five dead so far, the New York Times reported.

According to criminologist James Fox, July 4 and July 5 are the two most violent days of the year in the US.

"Holidays and celebrations, they often involve drinking, sometimes drug use, and unfortunately also guns," Fox told the New York Times. "If there's lots of strangers, altercations and arguments can arise," he said.

This year's soaring temperatures can also be a factor contributing to heated encounters.

Elsewhere in the US:

- Six people were shot and one died in San Antonio, Texas.

- Five people were shot at a party in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

- One woman was killed and eight injured in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

- Seven people were injured in Hilton Head, South Carolina when gunfire was exchanged between two groups at a public beach.

In 2024, the latest year with complete data, 44,447 people died from gun-related injuries in the US, according to Pew Research. The largest percentage of those, 62 percent, were suicides, while 35 percent, or 15,364, were homicides, though that is down from a record 20,958 during the COVID peak in 2021.

Of the remaining homicides, 636 involved law enforcement, 450 were accidental, and 404 were undetermined.

Pew Research reported that 76 percent of all homicides in the US in 2024 involved a firearm, and while that is down slightly from recent years, it is still among the highest percentages since 1968, the earliest years for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has online records.

Adjusted for population growth, there were 12.8 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2024, down from the peak of 16.3 per 100,000 in 1974, Pew Research reported.