On Sunday, at least two people died and another 33 were injured due to shootings that broke out during Halloween celebrations in Tampa, Fla., and Chicago.
Tampa shooting
Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw reported that the shooting began around 3 a.m. after a fight broke out between two groups of people outside an area of clubs that were closing on the 1600 block of East Seventh Avenue in the Ybor City neighborhood.
Bercaw reported that there were at least 100 people at the scene of the shooting who were in danger. However, at the time of the incident, there were approximately 50 officers along Seventh Avenue who helped control the situation.
Although police reported that one of those involved in the shooting has already turned himself in, there is at least one other suspect at large. Authorities requested help from those who were at the scene to obtain more evidence.
“We’re asking anybody that was out there that has video — and we know there are some out there cause we’ve seen them on social media — anybody that has video of this, to please report it to us,” Bercaw said.
Many videos have already been published on social media of the moment that people in the streets are thrown into a panic after hearing about a dozen gunshots.
The shooting also caused a dangerous stampede of people trying to flee the scene. In fact, it is not known whether many of the people were injured by the bullets or by the chaos that broke out after the shooting began.
#WATCH | TAMPA, FL - At least 18 people are injured and 2 dead after a mass shooting during a Halloween celebration in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida this morning. pic.twitter.com/AY2f99rjWw
— VOZ (@Voz_US) October 29, 2023
Another shooting in Chicago
Another 15 people were also injured in a shooting during another Halloween party on Chicago's west side.
Chicago police reported that six of the victims are women and nine are men, and that at least two of them are in critical condition. Although the authorities have not revealed names yet, they announced that those who are seriously injured are a 26-year-old woman who was shot in the hip and the rear, and a 28-year-old man who was shot three times, one in the hip and two in the thigh.
The person responsible for this shooting has already been arrested by authorities a short distance from the scene of the incident.
