Earlier by Paul Kersey: Aurora’s Dark Knight-Mare Just Another Weekend In Chicago
If you can’t laugh, you’ll never understand the "exuberant" nature of what Juneteenth exposes for those truly paying attention.
114 shell casings recovered at site of deadly shooting outside Aurora Juneteenth celebration, KKTV.com, June 20, 2021
One person is dead and four others hurt after multiple shooters opened fire in a strip mall parking lot in Aurora early Sunday morning.
The phone began ringing off the hook at Aurora’s Public Safety Dispatch Center just after 4:15 a.m. on reports of gunshots and a possible active shooter.
“The Public Safety Dispatch Center received at least 50 calls for service,” the Aurora Police Department said.
There was a huge crowd in the mall parking lot when officers pulled up. Police were able to find one shooting victim on the ground suffering serious injuries and performed CPR until medical arrived. He later died at an area hospital.
Four others, three men and a woman, were also shot but transported themselves to hospitals before police arrived. All are expected to survive.
Police say the crowd at the mall had been there for a Juneteenth celebration, which grew so large it began overflowing into the parking lot. This was not affiliated with the city-sponsored Juneteenth event, which took place Saturday afternoon at the Town Center of Aurora.
“At some point earlier in the evening presumed organizers of the celebration began denying access to the unit. This led many attendees to gather in the parking lot. It is currently unknown who organized the gathering or the name of the establishment in the unnamed unit,” police said in a news release Sunday afternoon.
Witnesses say there were multiple shooters. Officers collected 114 shell casing at the scene.
Early on, police thought the shooting may have been gang-related, but it’s not clear from the APD’s update whether that is still suspected.
We will continue to update this article as we learn more.
Oh, this mass shooting was definitely related to Juneteenth despite officials playing down the connection.
UPDATE: The gathering in the parking lot where the shooting broke out was related to a Juneteenth celebration at a unit in this strip mall. Suspect(s) are at-large. Anyone who witnessed this incident or has information is asked to contact @CrimeStoppersCO.
— Aurora Police Dept (@AuroraPD) June 20, 2021
Meanwhile, in South Carolina, two separate shooting incidents erupted at a Juneteenth celebration. Somehow, this is the fault of white people.
Deputies investigating 2 separate shootings at Clover Juneteenth celebration, WSOCTV.com, June 20, 2021
Deputies are investigating two separate shooting incidents that happened at a Juneteenth celebration Saturday night in York County.
Deputies said just before 11:30 p.m., they responded to the intersection of Oakridge Road and Bellaire Circle in the Oakridge community in Clover after getting a 911 call about several gunshots being fired during a Juneteenth celebration.
Throughout the investigation, deputies learned three people were shot. Two of the victims were taken to the hospital by personal vehicles.
The third victim, a 17-year-old boy, was taken to Atrium Health in Charlotte by helicopter. Deputies said all the victims are from Gaston County.
“We were celebrating Juneteenth with free food, inflatables for the kids, water, just a good family time, and we opened it up to every community so everybody can can celebrate it because that’s what Juneteenth is about. And people from a place we have no idea where they are from, outside of our family, outside of our community, took advantage and destroyed what we are trying to celebrate,” said Jailah Williams, who was at the celebration.
In addition to the three people who were shot, officials said several cars were shot during the incident.
“This is completely out of character of our neighborhood. It does not speak for what we are,” Williams said.
Deputies said they also are investigating a separate incident that happened about 30 minutes before near Regal Road and Oakridge Road.
The victim told detectives that around 10:55 p.m., a car leaving the same Juneteenth celebration pulled in front of their car and almost caused a collision. The victim said he honked his horn and flashed his headlights at the car.
Then, the suspect vehicle pulled up next to the victim and fired shots into the side of the car.
The victim said he had his wife and two children, ages 8 and 11, in the car at the time of the shooting. Officials said a bullet hole was found in the right rear passenger door, where one of the children was sitting.
Deputies said the suspect in this incident was driving a dark-colored four-door Chevrolet Malibu with a Georgia license plate.
No arrests have been made in either incident. If you have any information about these cases, call the York County Sheriff’s Office at 803-628-3059.
Again, if you can’t laugh, you’ll never understand the inadvertent joke the passing of a Federal holiday surrounding Juneteenth, and what it purports to celebrate, represents.
