Three separate mass shootings erupted across the U.S. within hours on Saturday, leaving at least one person dead and more than a dozen others wounded in Kentucky, Chicago and Virginia.
The violence included a shooting at a Kentucky park that struck multiple children, a drive-by attack in Chicago that left two victims critically injured and an early-morning shooting at Virginia State University that wounded five people.
The Kentucky shooting unfolded at Charles Young Park in Lexington at approximately 6:45 p.m., where an outdoor concert was reportedly underway.
At least 13 gunshots could be heard in video from the scene as people scrambled for safety.
Five people were shot, including a 4-year-old, a 14-year-old and two adults who were transported to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to police.
A fifth victim was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Devine Carama, director of ONE Lexington, the mayor’s youth gun violence reduction program, was at the park and described witnessing people attempting to save the victims.
“My heart is broken. This evening we had a shooting at the park with multiple victims and one fighting for his life,” Carama wrote.
Carama said he witnessed parkgoers performing CPR and another person carrying a young shooting victim as emergency personnel responded.
“This is not normal. We come together every year as a family and kick it on the Eastside and we haven’t had something like this happen, EVER,” he added.
Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers said authorities did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the public but urged anyone with information about potential violence to contact police.
“If you know somebody who might be inclined to use a weapon, please do anything you can do to let us know before something happens,” Weathers said.
“Please let us know.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) addressed the shooting while speaking at a Kentucky Democratic Party event in downtown Lexington.
“To stop mass shootings, we have got to elect Democrats that will actually do something about it,” Beshear said.
Roughly 30 minutes after the Kentucky shooting, another burst of gunfire struck a group of people in Chicago’s Gresham neighborhood.
Police said a vehicle pulled alongside a group walking on a sidewalk at approximately 7:15 p.m. before multiple occupants opened fire from the vehicle and fled.
Four people were wounded, including a 43-year-old man, a 34-year-old man, a 32-year-old woman and another man whose age was not immediately available, per the Daily Mail.
Two of the victims were reportedly in critical condition.
No arrests had been announced in connection with either the Lexington or Chicago shootings, and both remained under investigation.
Hours earlier, gunfire had also erupted at Virginia State University.
The shooting occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. Saturday and sent the campus into lockdown.
Five people between the ages of 17 and 23 were wounded, including one Virginia State University student. One victim suffered critical injuries.
Police later arrested 19-year-old Camron Harris in connection with the shooting.
Harris, who authorities said is from Virginia and is not a student at the university, was taken into custody Saturday evening.
Four of the five people wounded were also not Virginia State University students, according to authorities.
The university previously said the incident involved “multiple suspects,” indicating investigators were continuing to examine whether others were involved.
