Nearly 190 shot dead across U.S. during July 4th holiday weekend

WASHINGTON, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 190 people were shot dead across the United States over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a research organization.

By Monday, the non-profit group reported that 189 people were killed and 516 were injured in more than 540 shootings over the three-day weekend starting on Friday, U.S. media outlet NPR said Tuesday after reviewing the data, noting that those numbers may go up as the organization is continuing to collect relative data.

The Chicago Tribune newspaper reported that at least 95 people were shot in the city during the long weekend, and among those injured were two police officers from the Chicago Police Department.

In New York, there were 26 victims from 21 shootings from Friday to Sunday, the New York Police Department said.

In Norfolk, eastern state of Virginia, police have charged a 15-year-old boy in the weekend shooting of four children between the ages of 6 and 16 on Friday, said the NPR report.

Police in Cincinnati, midwestern state of Ohio, said two males aged 16 and 19 respectively who were "engaged in a verbal altercation that resulted in the two exchanging gunfire" were shot dead, and three others were injured at a holiday celebration at a park late Sunday night.

In Toledo, Ohio, a 17-year-old boy was killed when a block party was disrupted by gunfire early Monday, according to police. At least 12 people were hurt in the shooting.

On July Fourth, at least eight people were shot and injured after an argument broke out in Fort Worth, Texas, local media reported.

On the same day, five men were found shot in Dallas, Texas, and three of them later pronounced dead.

In suburban Atlanta, southern state of Georgia, golf professional Gene Siller was fatally shot at a country club on Saturday. Two other gunshot victims were also found on the course and police are still looking for the suspect.

Through the first 172 days of 2021, gun violence killed 9,420 Americans, an average of 55 people a day, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The figures include homicides and accidental gun deaths but not suicides.

A sample of 37 U.S. cities with data for the first three months of this year saw an 18-percent spike in murders compared with the same period in 2020, according to an earlier New York Times report.

Many experts already predicted that gun violence will get even worse this summer, when it historically goes up with the arrival of warm weather. Furthermore, most states have relaxed COVID-19 restrictions after months of shutdowns.

In late June, U.S. President Joe Biden launched a new crime prevention strategy amid soaring gun violence across the country, focusing on illegal sale of firearms, law-breaking gun dealers and better community support.

"Crime historically rises during the summer and as we emerge from this pandemic, with the country opening back up again, the traditional summer spike may even be more pronounced than it traditionally would be," Biden said in a speech from the White House at the time.

The hike of crime and violence is a potential trouble for Biden and Democratic lawmakers ahead of the 2022 mid-term elections as Republicans are trying to brand Democrats as weak on crime.