The Fourth of July brought celebrations from coast to coast, as millions watched fireworks, parades, tall ships and more in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
But the holiday weekend was also marked by spasms of gunfire, with shootings occurring in New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, Indiana, Tennessee, Michigan and South Carolina. At least five people were killed out of at least 52 gunshot victims, authorities said.
Violence flared at a beach, an apartment complex, a downtown entertainment district and at least one block party, according to police reports. In Coney Island, where gunfire erupted as crowds gathered to watch fireworks, eight people were shot, including four children and a woman who was in critical condition early Sunday.
Large gatherings with heavy alcohol consumption and hot weather create the conditions for violent outbursts, according to researchers. Gun Violence Archive data from 2013 to 2025, analyzed by the criminologist James Alan Fox, shows that July 4 and July 5 rank as the most violent days of the year, followed only by Jan. 1.
“Holidays and celebrations, they often involve drinking, sometimes drug use, and unfortunately also guns,” Dr. Fox, who works at Northeastern University, said in an interview. “If there’s lots of strangers, altercations and arguments can arise,” he said, and people may end up firing guns.
In San Antonio, six people were shot, including the suspected shooter, and one person died.
Five people were shot at a block party in Mount Clemens, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, at around 11 p.m. Saturday, the authorities said. In Fort Wayne, Ind., one woman was shot and killed and eight people were treated for non-life-threatening gunshot wounds at local hospitals, police said.
Authorities didn’t provide an exact number of people shot in Arizona, saying only that “multiple” people were hit by gunfire.
In Memphis, as the police responded to reports of early morning gunfire on Sunday, they pursued a man carrying a handgun, according to a Memphis Police Department statement.
Members of the Tennessee National Guard were nearby and joined the foot chase. Then, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, two National Guard soldiers shot at the man, 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson, killing him. The Memphis Police Department said in a statement that Mr. Johnson had “turned toward NG members with his weapon.”
The Tennessee National Guard military police officers were part of the task force that has patrolled Memphis, conducting traffic stops and arrests, following an executive order from President Trump in September.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it is investigating the shooting of Mr. Johnson.
In Hilton Head, S.C., a spat between two groups around 8 p.m. at a public beach resulted in at least seven people suffering non-fatal gunshot injuries, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
At least four people have been charged in the shooting, all 17 or 18 years old.
In Chicago, seven people were shot on the same block near the Garfield Park Lagoon on the city’s West Side around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. A 17-year-old girl was shot in the chest and remains in critical condition, the police said.
In a separate incident about 10 minutes later, an 18-year-old woman and five young men, ages 17 to 20, were also shot. They are all at hospitals in good condition, police said.
The violence comes as the nation continues to reckon with the role of guns in American society. The Trump administration has rolled back dozens of gun regulations, including loosening restrictions on gun sales and restoring gun rights to some people with mental illness.
Mr. Trump, in his Fourth of July speech Saturday night, spoke about the right to bear arms enshrined in the Constitution.
“For the almost six years that I was president, I guarded very, very powerfully your Second Amendment,” the president said from the 250th celebration at the National Mall in Washington late Saturday night.
At least seven people were shot early Sunday morning in a downtown area of Pensacola, Fla., according to local police. A suspect remains at large.
Hundreds of miles to the west, at a sprawling celebration in Fort Worth that featured a boxing competition in a makeshift ring, two men discharged their firearms at each other and one died from his injuries. Authorities said they believe the altercation started “over a female.”
Video clips on social media show the two men grappling on a grassy area. As one appeared to flee, the other followed, drawing his firearm. The two shot at each other.
“This is a celebration of, you know, the Fourth of July,” said Cynthia Wood, a public information officer for the Fort Worth Police Department. “We should all be enjoying it with our families and not having this kind of incident.”
Summer temperatures are a crucial ingredient in the carnage, Dr. Fox said. Warm weather brings people outside. But hot and humid conditions create stress and shorten tempers. And while the data shows July 4 and 5 have high rates of gun violence, Dr. Fox said holiday violence in general is hard to prevent.
“We tend to have more violence, and that’s a lot to do with the divisiveness in our country,” he said. “It’s not just guns.”
Emily Cochrane contributed reporting. Georgia Gee contributed research.
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