(NEW YORK) — A string of deadly shootings across the nation has marred the Presidents Day weekend as law enforcement officers in major cities and rural areas investigated separate violent episodes, many involving children — including a baby killed in Chicago.
Gunfire erupted over the holiday at a pre-Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, a party in Columbus, Georgia, and on a freeway in Chicago, authorities said. Among those killed were beloved Catholic auxiliary bishop gunned down in a Los Angeles home and a college campus police officer fatally shot execution-style.
In four of the shootings that have occurred since Friday, at least 16 juveniles were shot, four fatally, according to police.
Baby killed in Chicago freeway shooting
A 1-year-old girl was among three people killed when gunfire erupted Sunday night on Chicago freeway, police said.
The baby, identified as Amara Hall, was fatally shot around 10:30 p.m. while riding in an SUV in the northbound lanes of Interstate 57 on the city’s South Side, according to the Illinois State Police. A 14-year-old boy and a woman were also killed in the incident.
Three other people were wounded, including two boys — ages 13 and 14, police said.
No arrests have been announced and a motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
5 shot, 1 fatally, at New Orleans parade
A pre-Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans turned chaotic Sunday night when a barrage of gunfire left a man dead and four other people injured, according to police.
The shooting occurred around 9:30 p.m. along the route of the popular Krewe of Bacchus parade and sent people running for cover, witnesses said.
Two men, a woman and a juvenile girl were wounded in the shooting.
One suspect was arrested but police said it appeared that additional shooters were involved. Two weapons were recovered at the scene.
A motive was under investigation.
Camryn Lafleur, 19, described the gunfire as a “continuous loud noise that kept going off.” He said he saw “faces of pure horror” fleeing the gunfire.
2 related Memphis shootings leave 1 dead, 10 injured
Three people of interest were being sought for questioning Monday in a pair of related shootings in Memphis that left one man dead and 10 people wounded, according to the Memphis Police Department.
Gunfire erupted around 12:43 a.m. Sunday at the Live Lounge in the city’s Whitehaven neighborhood, police said. Officers found two shooting victims suffering from critical injuries and learned that at least five other victims were taken to hospitals in private vehicles, according to police.
As police were investigating the nightclub shooting, gunfire broke out at an intersection about a mile away. When they arrived at that scene, officers located three victims in critical condition. One victim later died at a hospital.
Police said the second shooting stemmed from the incident at the nightclub.
No arrests have been announced and a motive for the shootings is under investigation.
2 teens among 4 killed in New Jersey murder-suicide
A family of four, including two teenagers, was found shot to death in a home in Linden, New Jersey, in what police suspect was a murder-suicide committed by the father, authorities said.
Police were called to the family’s home about 9:30 a.m. Sunday and discovered three people dead and a teenage boy gravely injured, police said. The boy was taken to a hospital but was later pronounced dead.
The boys sister, father and mother were pronounced dead at the scene.
Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said the brother and sister killed in the incident were ages 13 and 14.
Temple University police officer killed
An 18-year-old man was arrested Sunday in the fatal shooting of a Temple University police officer in north Philadelphia, authorities said.
Miles Pfeffer, 18, of Buckingham Township, Pennsylvania, is facing charges including murder, murder of a law enforcement officer, robbery, carjacking and related offenses in the shooting on Saturday night that killed officer Christopher Fitzgerald, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
Fitzgerald, the married father of four children, encountered Pfeffer while investigating a robbery near the Temple University campus, officials said.
A struggle allegedly occurred between Fitzgerald and Pfeffer, in which the officer was shot, officials said. After shooting Fitzgerald once, Pfeffer allegedly stood over the officer and fired several more shots at him, including at least one to the head from point-blank range, killing him, officials said.
Investigators alleged that Pfeffer attempted to rob the officer, rifling through his pockets as he lay dying in the street.
Auxiliary bishop shot dead in Los Angeles
A long-serving Catholic bishop known as a “peacemaker” was fatally shot in a Los Angeles home on Saturday, prompting police to launch a murder investigation, officials said.
Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, who had been a priest and then a bishop during his 45 years with the church, was found dead in a home in the unincorporated Los Angeles County community of Hacienda Heights.
On Monday, police sources told ABC News that a person of interest has been detained for questioning in O’Connell’s homicide.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators said they received a medical emergency call at 12:57 p.m. Sunday and deputies responded to a home in the unincorporated neighborhood of Hacienda Heights. There, they found the 69-year-old O’Connell unresponsive and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the upper torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
9 juveniles wounded in Columbus, Georgia
A confrontation at a house party in Columbus, Georgia, prompted a shooting at a nearby gas station that left nine juveniles wounded, including a 5-year-old boy, police said.
The shooting happened just after 10 p.m. Friday.
A fight broke out at a house party and the violence spilled across the street to a Shell gas station, where gunfire erupted, according to Columbus police.
In addition to the 5-year-old, the other victims ranged in age from 12 to 17, police said.
No arrests were announced and a motive is under investigation.
6 killed in Mississippi shooting rampage
A 32-year-old man was arrested on murder charges after allegedly going on a shooting rampage in rural Mississippi, killing six people in three different locations, according authorities.
The shooting spree erupted Friday in Arkabutla, an unincorporated community of less than 300 people in Tate County.
The suspected gunman, Richard Dale Crum, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, according to the Tae County Sheriff’s Office.
Crum allegedly began the rampage outside a convenience store in Arkabutla, where a victim was shot at random while sitting in a parked car, sheriff’s officials said.
Crum then traveled three miles to ex-wife’s home where he allegedly shot her dead and wounded her husband, officials said.
Two other people were found shot to death inside a house near Crum’s Arkabutla residence and two handymen were found fatally shot on an access road to Crum’s property, according to the sheriff’s office.
Crum was arrested outside his home, where deputies seized two handguns and a shotgun.
A motive for the killing spree is under investigation.
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