Multiple Fatalities, Dozens of Injuries: For America, A New Year Brings New Violence
Люди во время празднования Нового 2023 года в Нью-Йорке
From cops in New York injured in a shocking machete attack near Times Square, to shootings at festivals and parties, one of America’s most dangerous holidays lived up to its reputation this year.At least 8 people were killed and 25 injured in Wisconsin, Alabama, Louisiana, Virginia, Chicago, Oklahoma, and Michigan as New Year’s celebrations across the US turned violent Saturday night.In New Orleans, multiple early-morning shootings left at least one victim dead on New Year’s Day. At least 8 shootings took place Sunday in Philadelphia, which caused at least 11 injuries and one fatality. Miraculously, the nine shootings which rocked Milwaukee Saturday and Sunday didn’t claim the lives of any victims.While much of the violence across the country seemed to boil down to interpersonal disputes, a number of this weekend’s episodes seemed more sinister.In New York, a 19-year-old man named Trevor Bickford has been taken into custody after allegedly attacking three police officers with a machete in an incident which officials are reportedly investigating as a possible terrorist attack.A law enforcement source reportedly told ABC News that the suspect’s internet posts indicated possible recent extremist Islamic radicalization, and that he was already on the radar of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force after alarmed relatives recently warned authorities that Bickford was drifting toward jihadist ideology.In Alabama, graphic footage posted to social media showed a body lying in the street after an unknown perpetrator shot one person dead and left 9 others injured, just blocks away from where thousands were celebrating the “MoonPie Over Mobile” event in the state’s capital.Another video shows the moment chaos breaks loose and hundreds of New Year’s revelers flee from the scene of the attack in Alabama.Local media reports the 24-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and nine other victims, ranging in age from 17 to 57, were taken to a local hospital to receive treatment for gunshot wounds.According to Forbes, New Year’s Day is the sixth most dangerous holiday in the US based on data sampling overall fatalities as well as fatalities associated with alcohol. Thanksgiving Day is the most dangerous holiday in the US followed by Labor Day and Independence Day. But according to a study published on the seasonal pattern of mass shootings in the US, the months of May through September are typically when most mass shootings occur, whereas October through April see less instances of mass shootings.
