‘Tragedy upon tragedy in US’: 9 killed in 3 more incidents of shooting
US shootings: Nine people have died in three different incidents of shooting in the US. The incidents come less than 48 hours after a gunman opened fire at a dance event in Los Angeles killing 11 persons. According to reports, seven people died in two shootings at farms in northern California’s Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco. Three were critically injured.
There was no official confirmation of the death count, but San Mateo County Sheriff tweeted that it was dealing with an incident. “Suspect is in custody. There is no ongoing threat to the community at this time,” the sheriff’s office tweeted.
One dead in farm shooting
In an incident at the Mountain Mushroom Farm, one person died and three were injured. Yet another shooting incident at the nearby Rice Tucking-Soil Farm, claimed three lives.
California Governor Gavin Newsom took to Twitter moments after news broke of the new incidents. “At the hospital meeting with victims of a mass shooting when I get pulled away to be briefed about another shooting. This time in Half Moon Bay. Tragedy upon tragedy.”
Another shooting was reported at Des Moines in Iowa. The incident took place at Starts Right Here, which runs an educational mentorship programme for at-risk youths. Two students were killed and three people wounded, two of them critically.
Two teenagers dead
Des Moine police said in a statement that two teenagers, aged 18 and 16, died after being hospitalised with critical injuries. The 49-year-old founder-CEO of Starts Right Here, William Holmes, was in a critical condition.
The back-to-back incidents come against the backdrop of an alarming rise in gun violence in the US and a raging debate over easy access to firearms.
According to the Gun Violence Archive website, 647 incidents of mass shooting were reported last year when at least four people were shot or killed by a shooter.
More than 44,000 people died from gunshot wounds in 2022 across the US, more than half of which were suicides.
