Tugcenur Akgun
19 June 2023•Update: 19 June 2023
NEW YORK
At least four people are dead and several injured following shootings over the weekend in parts of the US during Juneteenth celebrations.
Two people were killed and a number of others were injured in a shooting at a dance music festival at the Gorge Amphitheater campground in Grant County, Washington state, said police.
The attacker has been taken into custody, they said.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old was killed and nine other people were injured in a shooting in St. Louis, Missouri.
In Illinois, one person was killed and 22 others were injured at a strip mall in Willowbrook, a southwest suburb of Chicago, the DuPage Country Police department announced.
Authorities said the injured were transported to hospitals following the attack, which took place in a parking lot.
No official statement has been made regarding the attacker’s identity or their motive, and an investigation into the incident continues.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the US commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.
With its name derived from combining June and nineteenth, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 307 mass shootings in the US since the beginning of this year.
*Writing by Alperen Aktas in Istanbul
