7-year-old brutally shot in Florida, Fourth of July weekend death toll rises

An incident involving two groups of people arguing over jet skis resulted in a seven-year-old boy being struck in the head by a stray bullet, according to Tampa, Florida, police. This shooting was also connected to the Fourth of July celebrations.

According to police, the incident started on Tuesday night near the Courtney Campbell Causeway boat ramp when one group became enraged because another group was using jet skis too close to the shoreline where children were playing.

When the shooting started, the boy's grandfather pulled him into a truck to seek cover after hearing the shots, but both of them were shot, and the grandfather only suffered a non-life-threatening finger wound.

There has been no disclosure of the victims' names.

"We need to do better as a community, really, as Americans," Tampa deputy police chief Calvin Johnson said at a news conference on Wednesday. "There's a better way to deal with anything you may be going through other than going to that firearm."

The shooting was deemed "senseless" by the police, who also requested that the shooter come forward.

"Turn yourself in. Just imagine if that was your child that was killed over this,” Johnson added.

The Gun Violence Archive reports that shootings over the Fourth of July weekend resulted in at least 15 fatalities and 94 injuries.

Violence broke out all over the nation, from Texas to Illinois to Washington, DC, as The Independent reported.

A total of five people were killed and 34 were injured in the shootings, which included incidents at block parties in Louisiana and Baltimore.

Nine people were hurt in a drive-by shooting in Washington, and a masked gunman in Philadelphia killed five more.

Following a 2022 mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Joe Biden praised Illinois officials earlier this week for outlawing assault weapons.

"Their achievement will save lives. But it will not erase their grief," Biden said. "And as we have seen over the last few days, much more must be done in Illinois and across America to address the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart."