The children, ages 6 to 14, were shot to death while doing everyday activities: riding in their mother’s car, walking in a mall, and playing on the playground with their cousins.
Someone had put up illegal barricades in the area, according to police.
Royta De’Marco Giles, age 8, Hoover, Alabama
The young man had just finished second grade at Jonesboro Elementary School, according to a statement from the Bessemer City Schools.
“Our hearts are just broken by the tragic loss of Giles. We are here for the family in every way possible, and we ask that everyone lift up the mother, family and our school community in their prayers. This is difficult,” said Bessemer. City. Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Autumm Jeter said in a statement to CNN.
Giles was described as a “smart kid, who was a gem, with big dreams of one day entering the music industry,” according to the statement.
Davon McNeal, 11, Washington DC
McNeal’s mother heard the shots and saw her son duck to the ground, thinking he was trying to dodge the bullets, Ayala said.
But then she saw that her son was not moving and she noticed the blood. “She saw that they hit him in the head,” said Ayala, who was not there at the time. When she arrived at the hospital, she discovered that her grandson was dead.
“Her mother was crying, ‘My baby! They took my baby!'” Ayala said.
“The public’s help is serious in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the horrendous murder of 11-year-old Davon McNeal,” the mayor said in a tweet announcing the reward.
Natalia Wallace, age 7, Chicago
A group of children were playing in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood playground when three suspects jumped out of a light-colored vehicle and shot at a group gathered outside a house in the 100 block of North Latrobe Ave, police said.
Natalia was “sweet, shy, loving, and good at math” and had just finished first grade, her family told WBBM.
“Children playing outside shouldn’t worry about guns and people shooting,” Natalia’s father Nathan Wallace told the affiliate.
“Chicago. Austin. You have to be tired of this,” chief Fred Waller said when speaking to reporters. “Chicago’s heart breaks again. Austin’s heart breaks again. You have to be tired of this, because damn, I’m tired of this,” Waller said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked anyone with information to come forward and said the violence “has happened for too long.”
“As a city, we must embrace our youth to understand that there is a future for them that is not shrouded in armed violence.”
In another Chicago shooting, a 14-year-old boy was among the four killed on July 4.
A six-year-old boy killed in San Francisco
San Francisco police announced Sunday night that they were investigating the “senseless murder” of a 6-year-old boy from Bayview.
The boy was found suffering from a gunshot wound after police received a call to shoot around 10:44 pm Saturday night, according to a police department news release.
A second person was brought to the hospital from the scene and treated for non-fatal injuries.
No arrests have been made and a suspicious description was not available, according to the statement.
“Meaningless violence like this, which can tragically claim the life of a young child, is unacceptable in our city, and the San Francisco Police Department supports the Bayview Hunter’s Point community in its determination to bring the perpetrator or accountable to justice. ” Police William Scott said in the statement.
Shootings in the US
The children were not the only victims of gun violence, as the shooting killed some and wounded many others in various cities across the United States over the holiday weekend.
New York saw at least 44 shooting incidents involving 63 victims, according to New York Police statistics.
In one incident, two officers were injured when a bullet hit the front windshield of a marked radio patrol vehicle in the Bronx just before midnight on July 4, the NYPD said. Both were treated for minor injuries. A New York police source said it was not known if the bullet was lost or was intentionally fired, and they are still trying to identify the shooter.
CNN’s Sharif Paget, Bill Kirkos, Kay Jones, Chuck Johnston, Nicky Robertson, Lauren Koenig and Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report.
.
