New Delhi: In the latest incident of gun violence in the US, five people including an off-duty police officer were killed on Thursday in the North Carolina capital of Raleigh after which the suspect had been contained in a residence in the area post manhunt causing a shutdown in parts of the city, informed Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
Two people including a police officer were also wounded and admitted to hospital, added Baldwin in an update after the shooting. “We must stop this mindless violence in America,” Baldwin told a press conference. Baldwin didn’t provide further details about the shooting spree.
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The shooting took place near the Neuse River Greenway, a popular trail in the area. "This is a sad and tragic day for the city of Raleigh. Just after 5:00 pm today, multiple people were shot," she added, according to news agency AFP.
Suspect Behind Raleigh Shooting
The suspected shooter is believed to be a white teenage male with a long gun, ABC News affiliate WTVD's report mentioned. There were multiple crime scenes associated with the active shooting situation, the report added.
Police said the suspect was taken into custody, AFP reported.
More than a dozen emergency vehicles were lined up on a road through a wooded area, according to the helicopter video from WRAL-TV. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he spoke to Baldwin and was deploying state resources to assist at the scene.
The North Carolina shooting comes after 18 people were killed and three others injured in a shooting incident in southwest Mexico on October 6.
Gun violence is a serious issue in the United States where around 49,000 people died from shootings in 2021 alone, according to AFP. This means that more than 130 people died from gun deaths per day -- a large proportion of which were suicides.