Days after President Joe Biden signed a bill recognising Juneteenth as a federal holiday, the country recorded a spate of gun violence across different states during its celebration over the weekend.
Violent incidents related to Juneteenth were reported in California, South Carolina, Michigan and Colorado, while Louisiana and Philadelphia recorded unrelated incidents of shooting. In all, at least seven people were killed and 21 injured in gun violence over the weekend.
The shooting in Oakland, California occurred around 6.30pm about a mile from Lake Merritt Amphitheater where hundreds had gathered throughout the day to commemorate 19 June, 1865, as the day when roughly 2,000 Union Army soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that enslaved African Americans were now free.- ADVERTISEMENT –
According to CBS News, at least six people were wounded and one person died in the shooting. Soon after, police arrested two men and recovered two firearms. They were arrested after the officials saw them running away from the scene after the shooting, reported the media outlets.
It was not the only incidence of violence recorded on the day relating to Juneteenth. In Colorado, at least one person was killed and four wounded in a mass shooting incident that happened in the parking lot of a strip mall located at 12455 E Mississippi Avenue. The gathering was “related to a Juneteenth celebration” said police in a statement, adding that at least 50 people called 911 to report an “active shooter in the shopping mall parking lot.”
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