Shooting over Christmas weekend in U.S. worsen gun violence

Christmas weekend was marred by gun violence in several U.S. states, another disaster to grim U.S. shooting record.

Among the incidents, at least two people were injured during an overnight shooting at a bar in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Sunday, as reported by local media WLWT. 

The victims were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Cincinnati police have not released the identities of the victims or a suspect, as the case is under investigation.

In Florida, a suspect was named on Sunday in a shooting that killed one man and injured several at a central Florida mall crowded with holiday shoppers two days before Christmas, according to USA Today. 

The Ocala Police Department identified the suspect as Albert James Shell Jr., 39, and authorities believe the shooting was a "targeted act of violence."

In Newton, Mississippi, local police department responded to a shooting on Sunday, which left one dead, according to local media outlet WTOK.

Local police chief Randy Patrick confirmed the victim was pronounced dead at the scene and the suspect Fedarius Lindsey turned himself in and was taken into custody.

The shootings over the Christmas weekend are a grim reminder that violence in the United States never takes a holiday.

As of Saturday, there have been at least 645 mass shootings in the U.S., according to Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a nonprofit organization that keeps track of shootings in the country and defines mass shootings as an incident in which four or more victims are shot or killed. 

The GVA also said nearly 420,000 people have died in gun-related incidents during the same period.

The GVA tracked roughly 645 mass shootings in 2022 and 690 in 2021.

Another database, which was jointly-built by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University, said there have been 42 mass killings so far in the U.S. while there are still a few days until next year. The total number stood at 42 in 2022, said the same database.

The database tracks mass killings in the U.S. going back to 2006 and defines a mass killing as an attack in which four or more people have died, not including the perpetrator, within a 24-hour period.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover: People protest gun violence in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., March 28, 2023. /CFP)