Major US cities saw 4 mass shootings over 6 hours this past weekend
- During a six-hour period this weekend, four major US cities experienced mass shootings.
- The shootings in Savannah, Austin, Cleveland, and Chicago left six dead and 33 injured.
- It could be a troubling sign for the summer, a time period known for spikes in violence.
Four mass shootings took place within six hours in the US this past weekend.
A total of six people were killed and 33 were injured in those shootings, which took place in major US cities.
The bloody stretch started in Savannah, Georgia, on Friday night, where a man was killed and seven others were injured in a drive-by shooting.
Roy Minter Jr., Savannah's police chief, said the mass shooting was part of a national wave of violence.
"It's very disturbing what we're seeing across the country and the level of gun violence that we're seeing across the country. It's disturbing and it's senseless," Minter said at a news conference, WTOC reported.
Here's a list of the shootings that happened in that six-hour period between Friday and Saturday.
- Savannah, Georgia - 9 p.m. ET Friday: A 20-year-old man was killed and seven others were injured when someone driving a car opened fire on a crowd gathered in front of an apartment complex, News4Jax reported. The outlet reported that the victims included an 18-month-old child, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
- Austin, Texas - 1:30 a.m. CT Saturday: A 25-year-old man was killed and 13 others injured in an early-morning shooting on a crowded downtown Austin street, the Associated Press reported. Joseph Chacon, Austin's interim police chief, said the shooting is believed to be the result of a dispute between two parties, and that one suspect was arrested and another is being sought, the AP reported.
- Cleveland - 2:30 a.m. ET Saturday: Two 40-year-old men and a 36-year-old man were killed in a shooting on Buckeye Road near East 89th Street that left four others injured, Cleveland.com reported. Police have not released any other details of the shooting, Cleveland.com reported.
- Chicago - 2 a.m. CT Saturday: A 29-year-old woman was killed and nine others were injured when two men opened fire on a South Side sidewalk early on Saturday morning, USA Today reported. The shooters remain at large.
In total, 10 mass shootings, including the four above, took place this past weekend in cities such as Dallas; Seattle; Cincinnati; Louisville, Kentucky; West Salem, Ohio; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina - bringing the total death toll to 11 and the list of injured to 55.
Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told the AP that the surge in gun violence has police officials bracing for a particularly violent summer.
"There was a hope this might simply be a statistical blip that would start to come down," Wexler said. "That hasn't happened. And that's what really makes chiefs worry that we may be entering a new period where we will see a reversal of 20 years of declines in these crimes."