2 kids among slain in Chicago gunfire
CHICAGO -- A 7-year-old girl at a family party and a teenage boy were among five people shot and killed in Chicago on the Fourth of July, police said.
In one shooting, just before midnight Saturday, four males opened fire on a large gathering in the street in the Englewood neighborhood, police spokesman Tom Ahern said. Two males died at the scene and two more, including a 14-year-old boy, died at a hospital, Ahern said.
Four others were injured; one is in critical condition and the other three are in fair condition, Ahern said. The four attackers fled the scene. No one was arrested.
The 7-year-old girl was fatally shot in the head while standing on the sidewalk at her grandmother's house during a Fourth of July party around 7 p.m. in the Austin neighborhood, police said.
Suspects got out of a car and began shooting, police said. No one was has been arrested.
"Tonight, a 7-year-old girl in Austin joined a list of teenagers and children whose hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Twitter late Saturday. "As a city, we must wrap our arms around our youth so they understand there's a future for them that isn't wrapped up in gun violence."
A 32-year-old man was injured in the shooting and was in fair condition.
Columbus statue toppled in Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore protesters pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into the city's Inner Harbor on Saturday night.
Demonstrators used ropes to topple the monument near the Little Italy neighborhood, news outlets reported.
Protesters mobilized by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, Confederate figures and others. They say the Italian explorer is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of American Indians.
A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. "Jack" Young told The Baltimore Sun the toppling of the statue is a part of a national and global reexamination over monuments "that may represent different things to different people."
"We understand the dynamics that are playing out in Baltimore are part of a national narrative," Lester Davis said.
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Statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalized in other cities such as Miami; Richmond, Va; St. Paul, Minn.; and Boston, where one was decapitated.
Vandals damage Georgia police building
ATLANTA -- Protesters caused extensive damage to the Georgia State Patrol headquarters in Atlanta early Sunday by sparking flames inside the building with fireworks, breaking windows and spraying graffiti, the agency said.
Department of Public Safety workers put out the fire, and two employees were treated for smoke inhalation, Georgia State Patrol Lt. Stephanie Stallings said in a statement. One of the agency's vehicles parked in front of the building was also damaged.
Video showed several dozen people outside and the sound of drums being played in the background. Smoke could be seen through a glass window of the building after a red flash was seen inside.
As many as 100 people dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks were outside the building, Stallings said. The incident was under investigation and no arrests had been made, the statement said.
The demonstration started peacefully, said Kimberly Krautter, who recorded video of the fire. "Only about three or four people" looked to be trying to vandalize the building, she said.
Protests have taken place in Atlanta over the past month in response to the deaths of Rayshard Brooks and George Floyd, but the subject of this protest wasn't clear, Krautter said.
S.C. club shooting leaves 2 people dead
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A shooting at a nightclub early Sunday left two people dead and eight wounded in South Carolina, a sheriff's official said.
Two Greenville County sheriff's deputies noticed a disturbance at Lavish Lounge just before 2 a.m., and saw a large crowd running out of the building, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a news conference. There was "active gunfire from inside the building," Lt. Jimmy Bolt said in an initial statement, and Lewis said all the shots were fired inside.
Lewis and Bolt initially said 12 people had been wounded -- with at least four in critical condition, Lewis said -- but Bolt told The Associated Press that two victims were likely counted twice in the confusion at the hospital.
No one was immediately taken into custody. Bolt told the AP that the sheriff's office was looking for two suspects, but couldn't provide names or descriptions.
"We don't really have a person of interest that we can name," Lewis said at the news conference, later adding that authorities weren't sure what led to the gunfire.
Lewis said a "very large crowd" was at the nightclub for "some type of concert." A post on Lavish Lounge's Facebook page advertised a July 4 performance by trap rapper Foogiano. An Instagram direct message from the AP wasn't immediately returned.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports