Gun homicides surge in US as COVID lockdowns end

Gun homicides surge in US as COVID lockdowns end

WASHINGTON: The year-long surge in gun murders across the United States has shown no sign of easing as COVID lockdowns end, with a jump in shootings over the weekend that left dozens dead or injured. Homicides, mostly gun-driven, rocketed by a historic 30 percent last year over 2019, and are currently running an estimated 20-25 percent above a year ago.

Experts say there is no one explanation for the mounting carnage that affects nearly all major cities, and that it cannot be expected to fall sharply as the coronavirus pandemic ebbs. Local media counted 12 dead and at least 43 injured in Chicago alone, while New York had around 30 people shot and one dead, mostly blamed on gang feuds, arguments at bars and parties, with innocent bystanders among the casualties.

A 14-year-old girl, Ronjanae Smith, was killed and 14 others wounded while attending an open-air concert in North Charleston, South Carolina that was attacked by multiple shooters, according to police. "The hurt I have for the loss of Ronjanae can only be described as defeat,“ her father Ronald Smith wrote in an open letter. "Mass shootings aren't secluded to 'poverty-stricken areas.' Violence and/or ignorance doesn't reside in one area, nor does