Shootings across the U.S. left at least 16 people dead and dozens more injured over Memorial Day weekend.
The gun violence occurred at beaches, high schools and motorcycle rallies, among other locations, across at least eight states. The victims were teenagers to people in their 60s.
The weekend concluded as it began — with gunfire. Nine people were injured in a shooting in the Hollywood Beach area of Hollywood, Florida, on Monday evening as people enjoying the holiday amassed along the Atlantic coast north of Miami, police said.
Police said an altercation between two groups led to the violence, with all nine victims hospitalized in unknown condition and the possibility that children were among the injured. A person of interest was detained, and a suspect was sought, Hollywood police spokesperson Deanna Bettineschi said at a nighttime news conference.
Among the first reports of gun violence over the holiday weekend happened Friday afternoon, when Telemundo Chicago cameras caught a confrontation between two groups of people on Chicago’s North Avenue Beach, NBC Chicago reported. The altercation led to gunshots but no injuries.
Although Friday’s shooting resulted in no injuries, more than eight people were killed and at least 32 others were injured in Chicago shootings over the long weekend, according to NBC Chicago.
Reports of shootings dotted the rest of the U.S., though the total number does not appear to be an outlier for a holiday weekend. The U.S. averages about 57 gun-related homicides per day, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
In Baltimore around 3:30 p.m. Friday, an argument between two men led to gunfire, which injured five people, officials confirmed to NBC News.
The five who were struck have not been publicly identified. The victims had non-life-threatening injuries, Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said. Police are searching for the gunman, NBC affiliate WBAL reported.
In Mesa, Arizona, police took Iren Byers, 20, into custody in connection with multiple shootings from Friday afternoon to early Saturday, police said in a news release. Byers is accused of killing four people and injuring one person, police said. It was not immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney who could be asked for comment.
The injured victim in Mesa, a 36-year-old woman, was stable and will undergo surgery for serious injuries, said Detective Brandi George, a Mesa police spokesperson.
Byers was booked into jail on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, a news release said. He was being held without bail, the release said.
On Saturday, police were called to Roxbury Lanes Casino in Seattle after they got reports that shots had been fired. Three people were injured, KOMO-TV reported; the severity of their injuries was not immediately clear. Police had yet to arrest a suspect Monday morning.
In Red River, New Mexico, a suspect was arrested after three people were killed and five others were injured — including the suspect — at a motorcycle rally Saturday evening. Police identified the dead Sunday as Anthony Silva, 26, of Los Lunas; Randy Sanchez, 46, of Albuquerque; and Damian Breaux, 46, of Socorro.
Police identified the suspect as Jacob David Castillo, 30, of Rio Rancho. Castillo was injured and hospitalized. He will be booked into the Taos County Detention Center upon his release, police said. Castillo could not be immediately reached for comment.
Three people were injured, two of them seriously, in Garden Grove, California, in a shooting Saturday evening at Hot Restaurant and Lounge. Garden Grove Police Sgt. Nick Jensen said the gunman got into an argument before he opened fire, NBC Los Angeles reported.
“There was some type of altercation, so it wasn’t someone that walked in off the street, and an altercation ensued, and the suspect pulled out a gun and shot three victims,” Jensen said.
Patrons detained the man until officers arrived. Although the suspect was initially detained, it was not immediately clear whether he had been arrested and charged. Police have not publicly identified either the suspect or the victims.
Early Sunday in Atlanta, a teenager was killed and another was injured in a shooting at “an unauthorized gathering” at Benjamin E. Mays High School, Atlanta Public Schools said in a statement.
Police were called around 2:30 a.m. ET Sunday to the high school, where they discovered a 16-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, both of whom had been shot. The girl died later. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was stable.
Officials identified the deceased as Breasia Powell, NBC affiliate WXIA reported. The Fulton County medical examiner did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Later Sunday, around 11:45 a.m. ET, a person was killed in a shooting on a Green Line train at the Navy Yard station in Washington, D.C., Metro Transit Police tweeted.
“Unfortunately, despite lifesaving measures, the adult male victim was pronounced deceased at the scene,” transit police said.
The shooter and the victim got into a fight on the train, Assistant Washington Police Chief Andre Wright said. Wright said the victim sustained “multiple gunshot wounds” to his upper body.
CORRECTION (May 29, 2023, 6:30 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article mischaracterized KOMO-TV of Seattle. It is an ABC affiliate, not an NBC affiliate.
