The United States ended 2022 with a crime crisis and the first few days into the new year shows the problem will not be slowing down.
In Chicago, there was a mass shooting involving four teenagers who were in a stolen vehicle on New Year's Day. The driver was killed with the others being taken to the hospital in critical condition.
At approximately 1pm four (4) teenage victims were shot in a stolen vehicle from an offending vehicle that fled the scene. Multiple shots were fired into the victims vehicle. The driver of the victim’s vehicle is deceased. @Area1Detectives investigating. pic.twitter.com/AaCh5kAsYE
— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) January 1, 2023
On Monday, a nine-year-old boy was killed after being shot multiple times. Police were not able to recover the firearm after arriving at the scene.
#UPDATE: Cook County ME’s Office has ruled the shooting death of Jarvis Watts, 9, a homicide. The little boy was shot multiple times inside a Washington Heights home last night. He was one of five people killed across the city in the first 24 hrs of the new year, according to CPD
— Courtney Spinelli (@CourtSpinelliTV) January 2, 2023
Within three days into 2023, seven people have been shot and killed, with a total of 28 residents being shot.
Philadelphia rang in the new year with 8 different shootings, a stabbing, and an "explosion incident."
#Philadelphia
— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) January 1, 2023
Just over 12 hours into 2023 and @PhillyPolice are reporting 8 separate shooting incidents, 1 stabbing incident, 1 fatal accident, and 1 “explosion incident”.
Since then there have been multiple calls of shots being fired and people getting shot in the city, with three shootings involving one victim at each incident happening within an hour of each other.
In Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, a town just outside of Pittsburg, Aaron Lamont Swan Jr. was a suspect in the shooting death of Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire. Swan allegedly shot first when police pulled him over for a traffic stop, leading to a pursuit. WPXI reports Swan was able to shoot another officer in the leg before eventually being shot by officers in a shootout.
“I am literally broken. I just want someone to tell me this nightmare is over,” Ashley McIntire, the wife of Chief McIntire posted on her Facebook page.
Someone who runs a far-left Twitter account claimed responsibility for setting fire to a Bank fo America location in Portland, Oregon in response to Antifa members being charged with domestic terrorism for their actions attempting to create an autonomous zone in Atlanta.
In New York City, two police officers were attacked with a machete by suspect who yelled "Allahu Akbar!" in what appears to be a lone wolf attack on New Year's Eve. Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, Maine, is accused of becoming a radicalized member of Islam, according to ABC News.
"He knew what he was doing. He knew why he was doing it and he thought he would die in the attack," Thomas Galati, NYPD Chief of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, told ABC News. "He did yell out 'Allahu Akbar.'"