4th of July mass shootings increased over the past 3 years, group says

Mass shootings are becoming more frequent during a holiday typically known for fireworks and barbecues, according to a nonprofit that tracks shootings.There were 80 total mass shootings over the past three years between July 1-7, said Mark Bryant, the executive director of the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a nonprofit which tracks shootings in the United States.The GVA defines a "mass shooting" as a shooting that kills or injures four or more people not including the shooter.There were 25 mass shootings over the July 4th week in 2021, 27 during that week in 2022 and 28 in 2023.In Hayward, California, on July 4, 2023, a fight escalated between two groups of people in a crowded area where 4th of July celebrations take place -- shots rang out and the shooting left six victims injured, according to police.All were eventually released from the hospital, according to local police.A day later in the nation's capital, a drive-by shooting in the city's Northeast quadrant left nine people injured, including two children, according to the Metropolitan Police Department."What happens around the fourth is you have more gatherings, you have more heat, you have more agitate, and this is the big one, and I think this is what's going to keep causing the numbers to go up, you have anger and proximity to weapons," Bryant told ABC News.In this July 5, 2023, file photo, a view of the crime scene after a mass shooting at the intersection of Jersey Street and Oliver Street in Paterson, New Jersey.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILESteve Casstevens, who retired as chief of police in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and served as a past president for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) told ABC News the increase in shootings during the Fourth of July "happens every year.""On one side of it when you look at whether it's family gatherings, so that's one thing, you're mixing that heat of July 4 weekend typically, and alcohol and sometimes a gathering of people who dislike each ot...