NEW YORK — Multiple shooting incidents disrupted Independence Day celebrations across the United States, with one of the most serious occurring in Brooklyn's Coney Island, where eight people, including four children, were wounded late Saturday during a Fourth of July gathering, authorities said.
The New York Police Department said officers responded shortly after 10:30 p.m. to reports of gunfire near West 31st Street and Surf Avenue, close to a crowded fireworks celebration. The victims included boys aged 6, 7, 12 and 14, two women aged 21 and 25, and two men aged 33 and 37. Police said the 21-year-old woman was in critical condition while the other seven victims were listed in stable condition. A firearm was recovered at the scene, but no arrests had been announced as of Sunday morning. Investigators said the motive remained under investigation.
The Brooklyn shooting was among several violent incidents reported nationwide during the holiday period, when large public gatherings prompted heightened security measures in many cities.
In Wilkinson County, Mississippi, authorities said a Fourth of July shooting near an establishment on Highway 24 left two men dead and nine people hospitalized with gunshot wounds. According to the Wilkinson County Sheriff's Office and Centreville Police Department, four victims were treated and released, while three others required transfer to a trauma center. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the case, which remains active.
On Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, seven people were injured in a shooting near Coligny Beach during Independence Day festivities, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office. Authorities said multiple firearms were recovered and six people were detained for questioning while investigators worked to determine the circumstances surrounding the gunfire.
In Chicago, police investigated several shootings reported over the holiday weekend, including one that wounded six people during a gathering on the city's West Side and another that left a 19-year-old man critically injured on the Far South Side. No arrests had been announced in those cases by early Sunday.
Local law enforcement agencies across the affected jurisdictions urged witnesses and anyone with relevant video or other evidence to contact investigators.
Officials have not indicated that the incidents were connected. Investigations into each shooting remained ongoing as authorities worked to identify suspects, establish motives and determine whether additional arrests would be made.
