(NEWSnet/AP) – Shootings and other violence during the extended Fourth of July weekend have left at least 20 people dead, and injured dozens more nationwide, authorities said.

The Fourth of July historically is one of the nation’s deadliest days of the year.

Shootings around the holiday a year ago left more than a dozen people dead and over 60 wounded.

Violence and mass shootings often increase in the summer months, with more people gathering for social events, teens out of school and hotter temperatures.

Here’s a recap of some incidents:

Shooting in Chicago


In Chicago, 11 people had been killed and 55 had been wounded in shootings as of Friday morning during the extended July Fourth weekend, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. That violence included a mass shooting on Thursday that killed two women and an 8-year-old boy.

Police said eight people were wounded in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood shortly after midnight Friday.

About 90 minutes later, a shooting in the city’s Austin neighborhood injured six people.

Police said preliminary findings suggest the separate shootings involved an exchange of gunfire between two people who then fled.

Shooting in Cleveland

 

A Cleveland police officer was fatally shot early Thursday while trying to serve a warrant on the city’s east side.

Police Chief Dorothy Todd said the Jamieson Ritter, age 27, a four-year veteran of the department, was shot at about 1 a.m. in the city’s Hough neighborhood, local news outlets reported. Police later said via the social platform X that Officer Jamieson Ritter “was shot and killed this morning while serving and protecting our community.”

De’Lawnte Hardy, 24, was charged with aggravated murder.

Ritter was part of a team dispatched to serve a man a warrant for felonious assault around 1 a.m., according to local news outlets. That man was seen fleeing the home and allegedly fired a gun multiple times, striking the officer, according to Todd.

In the northeastern Ohio community of Niles, a police chief said a 15-year-old male was in custody after a 23-year-old male was fatally shot Thursday night at a Fourth of July party at a residence.

A 10-year-old girl was fatally shot in a Cleveland neighborhood, police said. It’s not yet known what sparked the shooting or if she was targeted.

Shooting in Yellowstone

 

Also on Thursday, gunfire was exchanged between park rangers and a person who authorities say had been making threats.

The shooting happened at Canyon Village, an area in the central part of Yellowstone National Park that has a campground, lodging and a visitor center, park officials said in a statement. The statement did not say exactly where the shots were fired and whether visitors were impacted by what it called “a significant law enforcement incident” that began overnight.

The ranger was in stable condition at a hospital, according to the statement. The suspect is dead.

The FBI is helping the National Park Service investigate the shooting. 

Southern California Violence

In Huntington Beach, California, two people were killed and three others injured in an attack less than two hours after a fireworks show ended, police said.

Authorities arrested a suspect after responding to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon Thursday night.

Philadelphia Shooting

A 19-year-old man was killed and six others were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Philadelphia on Thursday night.

The wounded, which included four juveniles, were being treated at hospitals for various injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

It’s not known yet what prompted the shooting.

Boston-Area Shooting

Three shootings occurred in the Boston area following the city’s Fourth of July celebrations, leaving one man dead. The fatal shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. Friday in a park near Boston’s South End neighborhood.

At about the same time three other individuals were wounded in a shooting in the city’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. A third shooting at a gas station later left a victim with life-threatening injuries.

Connecticut Shooting

In Hartford, Connecticut, a woman who was found shot in her car early Friday was pronounced dead at a hospital. Relatives told reporters they believed she had just left a Fourth of July party.

Albany, New York, Shooting

Police in Albany, New York, said six teenagers were being treated at a hospital for injuries that were not considered life-threatening after a shooting at a large gathering at a home.

The victims were males ranging in age from 16 to 19.

Tampa Shooting

Four people were wounded in a shooting early Friday outside a Tampa adult nightclub after an altercation between the club’s security guard and two men, police said.

The two men drove their car to the front of the Pink Pussycat Lounge and one of them shot the security guard with a handgun, police said.

The security guard underwent surgery at a hospital and was in stable condition.

Three other men who were not involved in the altercation suffered unspecified minor injuries.

Police said both suspects were arrested and charged with several crimes.

North Carolina Shooting

In High Point, North Carolina, a shooting at an unofficial fireworks display left a 32-year-old person dead after a large crowd had gathered in the parking lot of the city about 90 miles west of Raleigh, police said.

Police didn’t immediately release information on what led to the shooting.

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