NY.- Two Chicago women, a police officer serving a warrant in Cleveland and a gunman making threats at Yellowstone National Park were among those shot dead on July 4, the day the United States celebrates Independence Day and historically one of the deadliest days of the year.
Violence and mass shootings typically increase during the summer months in the country, as more people gather at social events, teenagers are on vacation and the weather is warmer.
Three children, ages 8, 7 and 5, were also shot and wounded Thursday in Chicago in an incident police said stemmed from an apparent personal dispute. The women who died were 42 and 22 years old.
Two vehicles were parked in a neighborhood on the city’s south side and several people got out and began shooting at the home, said Deputy Police Chief Don Jerome. He added that several bullet casings from both a rifle and a pistol were found at the scene.
The police officer who died in Cleveland has been identified as Jamieson Ritter. The 27-year-old was with a team that was sent to execute an arrest warrant on a man around 1 a.m., Police Chief Dorothy Todd said, according to local media. The man was seen running away from the home and allegedly fired a gun several times, hitting the officer, Todd said.
Earlier Thursday, a shootout was reported at Yellowstone National Park between rangers and a person who authorities said had been making threats.
The shooting occurred in Canyon Village, an area in the central part of the park that includes a campground, lodging and a visitor center, park officials said in a statement. The statement did not say where the shooting occurred or whether visitors were affected by what it described as a “major police incident” that began in the evening.
The ranger is in stable condition at a hospital, according to the statement, which did not specify how he was injured.
A year ago, a rash of shootings around the Fourth of July left more than a dozen dead and more than 60 injured. Just two years ago, another mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade left seven dead near Chicago.
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