At least 4 people have been killed and more than two dozen others injured in shootings in Illinois, Missouri and Washington state during a deadly night of gun violence.
At least one person was killed and 22 others injured at a shopping mall in Willowbrook, Ill., a southwest suburb of Chicago, police said. Authorities described the rally as a peaceful “June 19 celebration” that began at 6 p.m.
“At approximately 12:25 p.m., police were called to a 911 call alleging a fight had broken out nearby,” the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday. “When the deputies responded, they heard gunshots and immediately returned to the scene of the rally. “
Preliminary reports from witnesses and victims indicated “there were at least 20 people shot,” said Eric Swanson, deputy chief of the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office, early Sunday. “As of now, one victim has died,” he added.
He said the victims had been taken to nearby hospitals, adding that the names and ages of the victims were not available. Some people were also injured as they fled the scene but were not hit by gunfire.
“The motive for this incident is unclear and it is still an active investigation,” he said.
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital said it received 12 patients in connection with Sunday’s shooting, seven of whom were treated and released. Four patients remained in good condition, with one person described as being in “fair” condition.
Some witnesses told NBC Chicago they were leaving the rally when shots rang out
“We were all out, and the next thing you know, gunfire started,” Craig Lottie said. “Everyone ran, and it was chaos.”
The shooting came hours after two people were killed and three injured near the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival in Washington state.
There, police said the suspect fired “randomly into a crowd” at a campground near the Gorge Amphitheater in the small town of George, about 149 miles east of Seattle.
Another fatal shooting took place just after 1 a.m. in St. Louis, Missouri. One person was killed and 9 others injured, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police.
Those shot were between 15 and 19 years old, police said on Sunday. The person killed was identified as 17, according to Police Chief Robert Tracy.
Injuries range from abrasions to gunshot wounds, including two people who were shot in the back. A teenage girl was trampled on as she ran away and suffered serious injuries, according to Tracy. Their conditions were not immediately known.
Tracy said area officers noticed a group of people fleeing a downtown building and called for backup at the same time as multiple calls reported a shooting.
It appears the shooting took place at a party on the fifth floor of the building, an office space, Tracy said. Bullet casings at the scene indicate that more than one gun was fired and “multiple guns” were recovered from the scene.
A person of interest, a minor, has been taken into custody, Tracy said.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones told reporters at a news conference Sunday that his office is working to expand resources for the city’s youth to steer them away from gun violence. She also called on parents across the region to engage with their children and watch over their teenagers.
“We see downtown St. Louis becoming a place where teenagers from across the region can congregate late at night,” Jones said. “The City of St. Louis is leveraging all the resources we have by making major investments and youth programs…working with communities to create safe educational spaces for children when they are out of school. “
There were 307 mass shootings in the United States in 2023, according to records from Gun Violence, a nonprofit that tracks incidents and defines a mass shooting as a single incident in which at least four people – other than the shooter – are shot.
CORRECTION (June 18, 2023, 11:16 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misspelled the name of the city in Washington where a shooting took place. It’s George, Washington, not Gorge, Washington.
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com