Halloween weekend in San Diego was filled with violence that left teenagers dead, several others wounded and prompted a lockdown at a South Bay mall. It followed a similar pattern of violence across the country.
Six people were shot, two fatally, in three separate incidents over the weekend, according to authorities. Suspects have not been located in any of the shootings. Meanwhile, at least three people and a dog were injured or dead in two separate stabbings.
Weekend violence
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San Diego County's violent Halloween weekend
The first incident occurred Friday night when a man holed himself up inside a hotel room in the Del Cerro neighborhood of San Diego. Once the man was arrested, a 31-year-old woman's body was found inside. During the six-hour SWAT standoff, a police dog was stabbed.
Overnight Saturday, a 17-year-old girl was shot in the back while leaving a party in the Talmadge area of San Diego. Police reported shooting may have started between two groups after a fight. The teen has not been identified as authorities.
"This is very difficult as a mother to have to deal with this with my daughter," Tamesha Wallace told NBC 7.
It was the first of three separate shootings in San Diego County.
The next happened at Nova Brazil Brewing in the Otay Mesa Ranch Town Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday, which prompted authorities to lock down the shopping center for 20-30 minutes as they searched for suspects. Three people were shot in what was believed to have started as an argument between two groups, the Chula Vista Police Department said.
"This is like our spot to hangout and the fact that this just happened all of a sudden is pretty scary," a witness to the shooting who identified themselves as Amari said.
Another deadly stabbing occurred in downtown San Diego just before midnight on Saturday. San Diego police said the incident started as an argument between a married couple and the suspect, all whom knew each other. The suspect then stabbed the couple and a security guard, police said. The husband died at the scene. The suspect was later found dead of an apparent self-inflicted wound.
On Sunday, two teenagers were shot and killed at a house party at a short-term vacation rental in an El Cajon nieghborhood. The 18-year-old and 16-year-old appeared to have been targeted by a shooter who left the scene on foot, and then hopped into a nearby car, El Cajon police said. The shooting appeared to be gang-related, police added.
Daniel Cancino lost his childhood friend.
"Nobody was arguing or anything. I just walked outside and saw my friend on the floor," Cancino said. "I went to go check up on him – me and my friends and we couldn’t believe when we were trying to wake him up and one of us were trying to do CPR – and it’s just crazy."
None of the incidents are believed to be connected.
Violence across the nation
Shootings across the U.S. over the weekend before Halloween have left at least 11 people dead and more than 70 injured, authorities said.
The deaths between Friday and Sunday included two in Tampa, Florida, three in Texarkana, Texas, and two each in Dodge City, Kansas; San Antonio, Texas; and Mansfield, Ohio, according to police. Many involved altercations arising from Halloween celebrations, including the mass shooting in Tampa's Ybor City section early Sunday as bars were closing and scores of people in costumes spilled out on the streets before groups began arguing.
The spate of weekend violence unfolded as people mourn the 18 killed by a gunman last week in Lewiston, Maine. More than 1,000 people turned out Sunday for a vigil.
“A neighborhood bar. A bowling alley. A Halloween party. It seems we can’t go one day without a mass shooting in America,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady, a gun violence prevention group. “Anger plus firearms is a deadly combination that can escalate any situation into a warzone in seconds."
One suspect, 22-year-old Tyrell Phillips, is charged with second-degree murder in the Tampa mass shooting and there may be other arrests, Police Chief Lee Bercaw said Sunday. Police initially said there were 18 injured in Tampa but have now revised that number to 16, with five remaining hospitalized Sunday night.
Phillips had his initial court appearance Monday but has not yet entered a plea. He remains jailed without bail pending another hearing set Thursday. Court records did not yet list an attorney to speak for Phillips.
In Indianapolis, a shooting early Sunday at a large party left a teenager dead and nine other teens and young adults between the ages of 16 and 21 injured, police said. The injured were in stable condition.
As of Monday morning, there have been no arrests, said Officer Samone Burris, who said “the case remains active and the investigation is ongoing.” Multiple firearms were found at the scene.
“I am frustrated and angry at the news of young people shot at a Halloween party last night,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a statement Sunday morning. “There are far too many guns in the hands of those who have no business having them, and shocking violence is too often the result.”
In Chicago, police said at least 15 people were injured, two of them critically, after a shooter fired shots into a crowd at a Halloween party early Sunday. The suspect was taken into custody, but officials had not announced any charges as of Monday morning.
In Texas, five people were killed and another six were hurt in two separate shootings Saturday night.
San Antonio police said a 13-year-old girl was wounded and her parents were killed after a shootout at a house party. A 20-year-old man arrived at the party and an argument ensued, police said. The man started firing a gun, and a 40-year-old man returned fire.
The older man and a 35-year-old woman died at the home, police said. The younger man and his relative and the 13-year-old girl were taken to the hospital with wounds that were not life-threatening, police said. Police have announced no charges.
In Texarkana – 450 miles (724 kilometers) away along the Arkansas border — police said three people died and three others were wounded during a party in the backroom of a business. Two men started fist-fighting when rifles were pulled and gunfire erupted, police said. No arrest has been made.
A 17-year-old boy was killed and three people between the ages of 20 and 24 were injured in a shooting early Saturday, according to police in Cumberland, Maryland.
Officers responding to a report of a shooting in an alley around 1:40 a.m. found a “chaotic scene” and the teen with a gunshot wound, city police said in a statement. The teen later died at a hospital, police said. Three others with gunshot wounds related to the violence arrived at the hospital, but police said their injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.
