Gun violence cut a bloody swath through the US over the Christmas weekend, leaving at least 16 people dead — including a 3-year-old Missouri girl — and 25 others wounded nationwide.
Shootings across the country were reported between Friday night and early Monday in states from coast to coast, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
New York City was not spared from the bloody holiday toll, with nine shootings in the five boroughs, two of them proving fatal.
The local gunplay included a Queens man shot in the shoulder during a robbery attempt on Christmas morning, a 39-year-old man shot in the leg in Inwood early Saturday, and another Queens man who was riddled with bullets and killed near Jamaica Avenue on Friday.
“They may be celebrating Christmas, but it’s still a weekend. There’s alcohol involved and disputes and disagreements,” one fed-up NYPD veteran told The Post.
“It always comes out with alcohol and that leads to fighting, shootings, everything,” he said. “There’s no break. There’s no break in crime.”
But the holiday gun violence was a national affair.
The weekend got off to a grim start when a 19-year-old man, identified as Johntae Raymon Hudson, was shot dead during a brawl at the Mall of America in Minneapolis early Saturday.
Police arrested five teenagers in connection with the deadly shooting, which they said originated from a longstanding feud between two groups.
A 19-year-old boy was shot and killed inside the Mall of America in Minneapolis after a brawl on Christmas Eve.
A 19-year-old man was shot and killed inside the Mall of America in Minneapolis after a brawl on Christmas Eve.
AP
Two men were discovered suffering from fatal gunshot wounds at a home on East Tennessee Place in Aurora, Colorado, Saturday.
Two men were discovered suffering from fatal gunshot wounds at a home on East Tennessee Place in Aurora, Colorado, Saturday.
9news
In Colorado, Christmas Eve was marred by multiple shootings, including two separate double homicides in Aurora.
Police received the first call around 11 a.m. for a welfare check at a home on Boston Street, where they found two people who were shot to death.
Just a few hours later, cops were called to an address on East Tennessee Place, where they came upon two men suffering from gunshot wounds, reported Denver7. Both victims died from their injuries at a hospital.
In Okaloosa County, Florida, Sheriff’s Cpl. Ray Hamilton was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call before 1 p.m. Saturday.
The five-year veteran of the department was gunned down when suspect Timothy Price-Williams, 43, allegedly opened fire on responding cops after a female victim reported being slapped and shoved by the suspect.
Cpl. Ray Hamilton was shot and killed on Christmas Eve while responding to a domestic violence call in Okaloosa County, Florida.
Cpl. Ray Hamilton was shot and killed on Christmas Eve while responding to a domestic violence call in Okaloosa County, Florida.
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office
Shortly before 7 p.m. that same day, little Quezariah Jackson was mortally wounded inside her home in Kansas City, Missouri.
Police told station KCTV that while the shooting is under investigation, they believe it was accidental.
Christmas Day opened with more gun violence when shots were fired around 6 a.m. at an intersection in Philadelphia, leaving a man in his 30s dead.
