Independence day shootings leave near dozen dead in US

   

At least 10 people were killed and 38 injured in three mass shooting incidents in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Fort Worth during the July 4 holiday, authorities said, causing US President Joe Biden to reiterate lawmakers to act on firearms legislation to save innocent lives.

There have been over 340 mass shootings in the country so far in 2023, according to data collected by the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

In Fort Worth shooting, three lives were claimed with eight injured after a local festival to mark the US Independence Day holiday, according to the police Tuesday.

Another shooting in Philadelphia Monday evening left five dead and two wounded, including a 2-year-old boy and 13-year-old boy, both of whom were shot in the legs when a gunman in body armour carrying an AR-15 went on a killing spree on strangers, said local police.

The Philadelphia shooting was just a day after the Baltimore shooting which killed at least two people leaving 28 injured, with half of them children at a neighbourhood block party.

Police were not able to ascertain the motivations behind the gun violence as the US is witnessing a fresh wave of mass shootings.

Biden condemned the mass shootings Tuesday and reiterated to tighten America's gun laws.

"Our nation has once again endured a wave of tragic and senseless shootings," Biden said in a statement, calling on Republican lawmakers "to come to the table on meaningful, commonsense reforms."

Citing constitutional protections for gun ownership, Republicans in Congress have generally blocked attempts to significantly reform gun safety laws and oppose Biden's push to reinstate a ban on assault weapons.

Gun violence legislation

Philadelphia officials pleaded with state and federal lawmakers to act.

"We are begging Congress to protect lives and do something about America's gun problem," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, said in a news conference Tuesday.

The city's district attorney, Larry Krasner, asked Philadelphia state lawmakers for "reasonable legislation" of the type found in neighbouring New Jersey and Delaware.

"Some of that legislation might have made a difference here," Krasner said.

Philadelphia police said the suspect was a 40-year-old man who had an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a 9mm pistol and who wore body armour and a ski mask.

The dead ranged in age from 15 to 59.

Krasner vowed to present multiple charges of murder and other offences at the shooter's first court hearing Wednesday.

Police in Fort Worth said no arrests had been made in a shooting that broke out at Como Fest, a recent tradition celebrating the Como neighbourhood’s African American history.

"I choose to believe this is a few bad perpetrators that came into this neighbourhood to really wreak havoc," Mayor Mattie Parker said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Witnesses heard a barrage of gunfire just before midnight that led some to initially believe it was fireworks but soon led to a stampede for safety, according to Dallas Morning News.

Hours later, defiant neighbours and community leaders held their July Fourth parade through Como.

In Baltimore, police have said they are seeking multiple suspects.

The latest shootings took place around the anniversary of last year's Highland Park mass shooting near Chicago, where seven people were killed and 48 others wounded at an Independence Day parade.

A 22-year-old man remains in custody after being indicted on 117 felony charges for the carnage.