The macabre tally of shootings continues to grow in the United States. At least four people were killed and two children injured Monday evening in the streets of Philadelphia, in the northeast of the country, according to the police. Those killed are all men, aged 20 to 59, and the two injured children are 2 and 13 years old.
Philadelphia Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said police have arrested a 40-year-old man suspected of the shooting. He wore a bulletproof vest and was armed with a rifle and a handgun. He was apprehended near the scene of the shooting in the Kingsessing neighborhood of southwest Philadelphia. “I don’t know if he was firing his rifle or his pistol while we were chasing him but, yes, he was actively firing shots,” she added.
At least the 341st shooting in the United States since January 1
According to footage filmed by local media, police cordoned off a major crime area. “We have absolutely no idea what happened,” continued Danielle Outlaw, adding that the police were trying to formally identify the suspect. Police also announced the arrest of a second person who allegedly returned fire from the suspect.
The shooting is at least the 341st recorded in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which defines mass shootings as attacks with firearms in which at least four people are injured or killed. At least 21,696 people have been killed, including 12,144 by suicide, since the beginning of the year. Last year, at least 44,357 people were shot dead in the United States, more than half of them suicides.