Dallas authorities reported four deaths and 15 injuries in Deep Ellum
Mass shootings over the Halloween weekend, largely in nightlife districts across the United States, left at least six people dead and dozens injured, officials said. The incidents included separate scenes in Dallas, Birmingham, Newark, Bloomington and Fayetteville, along with Friday attacks at Spirit Halloween stores in California and Michigan. Police in college towns such as Fayetteville, Arkansas; Birmingham, Alabama; Newark, Delaware; and Bloomington, Illinois also reported shootings in their nightlife districts. Official accounts provided partial timelines, and several investigations remained unresolved.
Dallas was the deadliest violence described: four people were killed and 15 were injured in the Deep Ellum neighborhood, a center of music and restaurants. Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said investigators were trying to determine whether three separate shootings Saturday night over about an hour and 15 minutes were related and why they started. The department had increased its presence in the district before the shootings, and no police officers were injured. Comeaux said some arrests had been made but did not specify the number of people arrested or the charges. “This is a really big scene. It’s spread out,” he said.
In Birmingham, one person was killed and eight others were wounded in two separate shootings just outside Legion Field after the annual Magic City Classic football game Saturday night, Mayor Randall Woodfin said at a news conference Sunday. Nearly 70,000 fans attended the game, which Alabama A&M won 31-28. The annual contest between archrivals Alabama State and Alabama A&M has been played for more than 100 years and draws some of the country’s largest crowds for games in their college football division. Two of those injured were in critical condition Sunday, fire officials said.
Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett said most spectators and families had left the stadium property after the game. The first shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue. The circumstances of the shootings were unclear, as was the location where the fatality occurred. Police spokesperson De’Rell Freeman said one person had been detained and that “multiple weapons” were found.
In Newark, Delaware, six people were shot late Saturday near the University of Delaware campus, Newark police Lt. Greg D’Elia said. A video shared on social media showed people running for safety from the scene. Police said a stretch of the city’s Main Street was closed for several hours after the shooting. All six were transported to hospitals for treatment, and their conditions were not available. A university spokesperson said updates on the investigation would be provided online as they became available.
An early Sunday shooting near the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University killed a 19-year-old woman and left another woman in critical condition, Bloomington officials said. Six other people had injuries of an unknown nature that were not life-threatening. Bloomington is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.
In Fayetteville, Arkansas, six people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds from a shooting early Sunday near the University of Arkansas, police said in a news release. No arrests had been made. A preliminary investigation indicated that an altercation preceded the shooting.
On Friday, two people were killed in separate shootings at Spirit Halloween stores in California and Michigan. Police said the shooting inside a store in Fairfield, California, was a targeted attack. A 31-year-old woman was killed and six other people were wounded, with no immediate arrests, police said. Family members told police the woman who died was pregnant.
In Madison Heights, Michigan, just north of Detroit, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot Friday afternoon. A man who was assaulted by bystanders as officers took him into custody was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.
Several key questions remained open across the official accounts. Dallas investigators had not determined whether three shootings were related or why they began; Birmingham police had not established the circumstances or where the fatality occurred; and the victims’ conditions were not available in Newark. In Fayetteville, police cited a preliminary indication that an altercation preceded the shooting.
John Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia. AP reporter Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to the report.