Gunman Shoots One Dead, Injures 7 Others During a Memorial Day Event in Oklahoma
The police arrested Skyler Buckner who opened fire in an outdoor festival with 1500 present.
The incident occurred at a Memorial Day gathering in the town of Taft in Muskogee County, Oklahoma.
A 39-year-old woman died and seven others were injured, including a nine-year-old, at yet another shooting at a Memorial Day weekend event in the USA on Sunday, 29 May, in Taft, Oklahoma.
The authorities identified the suspect as a 26-year-old named Skyler Buckner, who then turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The law enforcement was already on the scene providing security for the festival when the shooting happened a little after midnight, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation as reported by NBC News' local news team. Officials administered medical aid to those injured as well.
According to the Muskogee County Sheriff's office, the gunfire followed an argument at Taft's Old City Square. Witnesses at the event frantically sought cover from the gunfire as soon as it began, CBS News reported.
Around 1,500 people attended the outdoor festival. Taft, home to about 250 families, is located 45 miles southeast of Tulsa in eastern Oklahoma.
Gun Violence in the US
The shooting in Oklahoma took place a few hours prior to President Biden and first Lady Jill Biden's visit to Robb Elementary School, the site of the unfortunate mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults on Tuesday, 24 May.
The Bidens visited a memorial of 21 white crosses at Robb Elementary School where grieving members of the community chanted "do something" as Biden left the church service, to which President Biden replied, "We will."
For an understanding on why gun laws are hard to do away with in the US, click here. You can read a profile of the Uvalde, Texas, shooter here.
Five months into 2022, and the US has already experienced 212 shootings out of which 27 occurred in schools.
A shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, killed 10 African American members of the community on 14 May. A gunman attacked a group of churchgoers at a Taiwanese church in Southern California on 15 May, killing one and injuring several others.
The Brooklyn shooting that occurred in a subway station on 12 April injured as many as 23 people, sending shockwaves across the nation.
(With inputs from AP, CBS News, and NBC News)
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