Hours after the deadly gun attack near Chicago, shots were also fired in Philadelphia on the US National Day. Two police officers are injured. Thousands of visitors to a concert flee in panic.
During a fireworks display in the US metropolis of Philadelphia, panic broke out during the night. According to US media reports, several people were injured while trying to flee the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Some jumped into a nearby river to get to safety. The cause of the panic was apparently shots fired shortly before the fireworks began. Two police officers assigned to secure the celebrations were injured. The background is unclear.
One officer sustained a graze to the head and the other sustained a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, Philadelphia Police Department Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. Both were treated and have since been released from the hospital. The head wound was caused by a bullet lodged in the officer's cap. Inside the hat was a memorial card for a Philadelphia police chaplain who recently passed away. "It's a miracle the bullet got stuck in his cap," Outlaw said.
The shooting occurred around 10 p.m. near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, while thousands of people watched a fireworks display after a Jason Derulo concert on the Parkway, police said. Panic broke out in response to the shots, an NBC reporter said. A "wave of people", including many children, left the site in a hurry.
Mayor Jim Kenney criticized Pennsylvania's lax gun policy. He blamed the Republican-controlled legislature for preventing Philadelphia from enacting stricter gun control measures. "We are the most heavily armed country in the history of the world and one of the most insecure. Until Americans decide to give up their guns and forgo the ability to acquire guns, we will continue to have this problem," he said.
The incident came just hours after a deadly gun attack at a US National Day parade near Chicago. At least six people were killed in the affluent suburb of Highland Park. Around 25 people between the ages of eight and 85 were injured by bullets. According to police, the shooter opened fire on the crowd with a rifle from the roof of a shop.
