() — Three people were killed and at least seven others injured in a shooting shortly before midnight Tuesday in Shreveport, Louisiana, a city councilwoman told .
Shreveport District A Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor said Wednesday that the shooting occurred at a July 4th party, a “family and community event” that has been celebrated for more than a decade and in which no there had been no violence before. Taylor called the incident “tragic.”
Of the 10 people wounded by gunshots in the incident that occurred overnight, one person is in critical condition, six others suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, while three people died, according to the Public Information officer of Shreveport Police Sgt. Angie Willhite.
Willhite said officers responded to the intersection of Pearl Street and Jones Mabry Road around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday. Arriving police officers found a large crowd of people at an Independence Day gathering and members of the Shreveport Fire Department transported several victims to Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport.
According to Willhite, several injured were taken by private individuals to the hospital, and the total number of victims could rise as more victims potentially went through their means to seek medical attention after the shooting.
It was difficult for first responders to reach the victims due to the number of vehicles at the scene, police told affiliate KSLA.
“Getting here and getting emergency equipment was kind of difficult. A lot of us had to park our cars and run because there were so many cars on the side of the road,” Shreveport Police Lt. Van Wray told KSLA.
“This should not happen. We are now victims of a mass shooting in our community. […] It’s a trauma for those people who just wanted to have a good time on this holiday,” Wray told KSLA.
Councilor Taylor added that no suspects have been detained.
A series of shootings during the 4th of July
This was one of a series of shootings across the country over the 4th of July holiday weekend.
In Baltimore, at another party held this Sunday, two people died and another 28 were wounded by gunshots, mostly teenagers. Investigators are looking for several attackers.
In Philadelphia, five people, including a 15-year-old boy, died Monday night. According to authorities, the gunman fired randomly throughout several blocks of the Kingsessing neighborhood of the city before officers apprehended the suspect, who was found with an AR-type rifle and a handgun.
In Texas, three people were killed and eight others injured in Fort Worth on Monday night, hours before a Fourth of July parade was to take place down the street.
And in Washington, nine people were injured —including two minors— shortly before 1 a.m. this Wednesday. Someone from a vehicle “shot in the direction of some of our residents who were out celebrating the Fourth of July,” said Metropolitan Police Deputy Chief Leslie Parsons.
So far this year, at least 412 people have been killed in mass shootings across the country, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Like , this nonprofit organization defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people are shot, not including the perpetrators.
