BASINGSTOKE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 29, 2023--

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A spate of weekend mass shootings and violence across the US killed at least nine people, including a Pennsylvania state trooper, and left dozens injured. The shootings follow a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that experts say accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. They happened in suburban Chicago, Washington state, central Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Southern California and Baltimore. “There’s no question there’s been a spike in violence,” said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists.” Researchers disagree over the cause of the increase. Theories include the possibility that violence is driven by the prevalence of guns in America, or by less aggressive police tactics or a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanor weapon offenses, Professor Nagin said. Here's a look at the shootings this weekend: Willowbrook, Illinois At least 23 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday in a suburban Chicago parking lot where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, authorities said. The DuPage County sheriff’s office described a “peaceful gathering” that suddenly turned violent as a number of people fired multiple shots into the crowd in Willowbrook, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. A motive for the attack wasn’t immediately known. Sheriff’s spokesman Robert Carroll said authorities were interviewing “persons of interest” in the shooting, the Daily Herald reported. A witness, Markeshia Avery, said the celebration was meant to mark Juneteenth, Monday's federal holiday commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. “We just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped,” Avery told WLS-TV. The White House issued a statement calling the violence a tragedy and saying the president was thinking of those killed and injured. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in a statement that he was monitoring the investigation. “Gathering for a holiday gathering should be a joyful occasion, not a time where gunfire erupts and families are forced to run for safety,” Pritzker said. Washington state Two people were killed and two others were injured when a shooter began firing “randomly” into a crowd at a Washington state campground where many people were staying to attend a nearby music festival on Saturday night, police said. The suspect was shot in a confrontation with law enforcement officers and taken into custody, several hundred yards from the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival. A public alert advised people of an active shooter in the area and advised them to “run, hide or fight." The festival carried on until early Sunday morning, Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said. Organizers then posted a tweet saying Sunday’s concert was canceled. Central Pennsylvania One state trooper was killed and a second critically wounded just hours apart in central Pennsylvania on Saturday after a gunman attacked a state police barracks. The suspect drove his truck into the parking lot of the Lewistown barracks about 11am Saturday and opened fire with a large-caliber rifle on marked patrol cars before fleeing, authorities said Sunday. Lt. James Wagner, 45, was critically wounded when he was shot after encountering the suspect several miles away in Mifflintown. Later, Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr., 29, was ambushed and killed by a gunshot through the windshield of his patrol car as he drove down a road in nearby Walker Township, authorities said. The suspect was shot and killed after a fierce gunbattle, said Lt. Col. George Bivens, who went up in a helicopter to coordinate the search for the 38-year-old suspect. “What I witnessed ... was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed,” Lt Col Bivens said, lauding troopers for launching an aggressive search despite facing a weapon that “would defeat any of the body armor that they had available to them.” A motive was not immediately known. St Louis An early Sunday shooting in a downtown St. Louis office building killed a 17-year-old and wounded nine other teenagers, the city’s police commissioner said. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner Robert Tracy identified the victim who was killed as 17-year-old Makao Moore. A spokesman said a minor who had a handgun was in police custody as a person of interest. Teenagers were having a party in an office space when the shooting broke out around 1 a.m. Sunday. The victims ranged from 15 to 19 years old and had injuries including multiple gunshot wounds. A 17-year-old girl was trampled as she fled, seriously injuring her spine, Tracy said. Shell casings from AR-style rifles and other firearms were scattered on the ground. Southern California A shooting at a pool party at a Southern California home left eight people wounded, authorities said Saturday. Authorities were dispatched shortly after midnight in Carson, California, south of Los Angeles, KABC-TV reported. The victims range in age from 16 to 24, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. They were taken to hospitals and two were listed in critical condition, the statement said. Authorities said they found another 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound when they responded to a call about a vehicle that crashed into a wall nearby. Baltimore Six people were injured in a Friday night shooting in Baltimore. All were expected to survive. Officers heard gunshots in the north of the city just before 9 p.m. and found three men with numerous gunshot wounds. Medics took them to area hospitals for treatment. Police later learned of three additional victims who walked into area hospitals with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The wounded ranged in age from 17 to 26, Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said. Kellogg, Idaho Four people were killed in a horrific Father’s Day mass shooting at a home in Kellogg, Idaho, with a 31-year-old suspected gunman now in police custody. The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office said that it responded with the Kellogg Police Department to a home in the city of Kellogg on Sunday evening. Officers arrived at the multi-dwelling units on Brown Avenue behind Mountain View Congregational Church at around 7.30pm where they discovered four victims suffering gunshot wounds. All four were dead on arrival. A suspected gunman was detained and police reassured the community that there is no ongoing threat to the community. Details about the victims, the suspect and the shooting remain scant at this time. The Idaho State Police said that a 31-year-old man was arrested in connection to the shooting, KXLY-TV reported. A neighbour told the local outlet that they believed the shooting was the culmination of an ongoing dispute between neighbours. Read More Four victims killed in Father’s Day mass shooting at home in Kellogg, Idaho Biden says US is at ‘tipping point’ on gun control: ‘We will ban assault weapons in this country’ Parking lot party shooting leaves many people hurt in suburban Chicago

The Washington Commanders have traded Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears for a 2024 second-round pick and Chase Young to the San Francisco 49ers for a third-rounder, according to a person with knowledge of both moves

Ron DeSantis has made clear what he believes the purpose of his 2024 candidacy to be: The utter destruction of the Democratic Party and its ideology. The Florida governor spoke on Fox & Friends on Monday and made the bold claim that not only would he win the general election should Republican voters nominate him in the primary, but added that he would “destroy leftism in this country” if allowed to serve in the White House. It was a claim that outlined exactly how far to the right the GOP continues to slide; while Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi have made headlines for asserting that they want a “strong” Republican Party that is reclaimed from Trumpism, Mr DeSantis and his fellow lawmakers on the right have embraced a desire for the total destruction of their political foes and the effective establishment of a one-party system. “I will be able to destroy leftism in this country and leave woke ideology on the dustbin of history. At the end of the day, I’ve shown in Florida an ability to win huge swaths of voters that Republicans typically can’t win — while also delivering the boldest agenda anywhere in the country,” said Mr DeSantis. “I pledge to Republican voters if you nominate me, I will be taking the oath of office on January 20, 2025, on the west side of the Capitol. No excuses, no more excuses about why we can’t get it done. We need to get it done, and I will get it done,” he continued. The Florida governor is currently polling in second place in surveys of the 2024 Republican field; he has consistently been the only Republican other than former President Donald Trump, the undisputed leader of the pack, to register double-digit percentages in polls of voters’ choice for the party’s nominee. His claim to have pursued the “boldest agenda” in the nation holds water thanks to the hard-right conservative agenda he has pursued in Florida. His administration banned so-called “critical race theory” — or any lessons that infer that racism is deeply embedded in American history or society — from classrooms, and has signed a host of other bills into law that have thrilled conservatives while drawing intense criticism from organisations like the NAACP and Human Rights Watch. The governor has also leaned heavily into a growing backlash on the right against any visibility of LGBT+ Americans in society, with Pride-themed items in stores and in media facing the most intense vitriol. In that vein, he has all but declared war on the Disney corporation, accusing it of pushing “woke” ideologies on children. That battle has now cost Florida millions in a cancelled business development in Orlando once planned by the company, which is also suing Mr DeSantis’s administration for his campaign against it. Read More Donald Trump Jr shares doctored Office clip showing Ron DeSantis wearing a woman’s suit Queer parents need everyone’s support, not people calling us ‘breeders’ LGBTQ people are fleeing Florida in ‘mass migration’ with some fundraising via GoFundMe Member of Ron DeSantis’ Disney governing board quits role Ted Cruz faces bipartisan fire for criticising Uganda’s new anti-LGBT+ law Trump loyalist floats ‘gross’ theory that Casey DeSantis is ‘exaggerating’ cancer story

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