4 killed, 7 injured in Louisiana 4th of July celebration shooting

A shooting during an Independence Day celebration in Shreveport, La., on Tuesday evening killed four people and injured seven others, authorities said.

Officers responded to a call of shots fired shortly before midnight at a rally in the northwestern part of town, Sgt. That said Angie Willhite of the Shreveport Police Department on Wednesday. At least one gunman opened fire on a gathering of about 100 people, she said.

The initial death count stood at three people overnight, with two people pronounced dead at the scene and a third later dying at a hospital, but police discovered another body in a nearby field Wednesday morning, Sergeant Willhite said. All four were adults.

A motive for the shooting was not immediately clear and no arrests have been made. Sergeant Willhite said police found “some gun casings at the scene” but it was unclear if the shell casings were from the same gun.

Sergeant Willhite said the neighborhood is within the Shreveport city limits, but in an area known as “the country town,” where horse pastures alternate with apartment complexes and large clearings or open lots. She described it as a place with “a lot of riding, a lot of family, always a lot of gatherings.”

The party was advertised through posters in the area, she said. When police arrived, Sergeant Willhite said, officers struggled to get through the streets due to the crowds and had to abandon their cars to reach the injured on foot. One of the injured victims was in “extremely critical condition,” she said, and six others had non-life-threatening injuries.

Sergeant Willhite said investigators were still interviewing people who attended the party.

“There was a big crowd, so we know someone has information,” she said. “It’s been challenging so far.”

The shooting marked the beginning of a long and violent holiday weekend in the United States.

Monday night in southwest Philadelphia, someone wearing a ski mask and body armor opened fire on a street, killing five people and injuring two others. Hours later, three people were killed and eight others wounded in Fort Worth, where several men fired into a crowd.

There were several more shootings this weekend, including in Lansing, Michael.And Wichita, Kan., where several people opened fire in a nightclub early Sunday, injuring 11 people. In Baltimore, two people were killed and 28 others injured during a holiday block party on Sunday.