USA Today, June 2024
Dozens of people were killed and hundreds more injured in shootings across the nation over the weekend, and experts warn gun violence could increase as summer officially gets underway on Thursday. Since Friday, at least 73 people were killed and 308 were injured in shootings including several incidents at outdoor spaces and gatherings like a Juneteenth celebration in Texas, a splash pad in Michigan, a park in Illinois, and a party in Massachusetts, according to the most recent data from the Gun Violence Archive.
Mark Bryant, the archive’s executive director, said that although there have been fewer shootings in 2024 than at the same point last year, the country typically sees an uptick in gun violence as temperatures rise and people gather outside for activities during the summer. “We’ve been having some very quiet weekends,” Bryant said. “So this weekend, which seems like it popped, was actually back up to normal for summertime.”
