On the same day the US Justice Department announced it was launching firearms trafficking “strike forces” to five cities and regions, gunfire erupted at around 8:20 p.m. at an area known for its restaurants in Washington, D.C. , in one of 127 gun violence incidents in which 42 people lost their lives and 110 were injured.
No fatalities were listed in the Garden State but gunfire wounded three people in New Jersey, one in each shooting reported by the Gun Violence Archive. Illinois had the most incidents, 17, in which five people died. Four people were shot and killed in Pennsylvania.
DC Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee called the violence “unacceptable” and said the shooting occurred in an area with a lot of people around.
“I think this really kind of speaks to the brazenness of some of the criminals that we’re seeing in our community,” said Contee.
The federal crackdown’s aim is to disrupt gun trafficking corridors that send weapons to these areas, officials said.
The two people shot Thursday suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, and they were recovering at hospitals, police said.
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