Seven individuals were wounded, three critically, in a shooting at Harry Todd Park in Lakewood, Washington, on Wednesday evening, according to AP News.
The incident unfolded just before 8 p.m. local time as over 100 people enjoyed unseasonably warm weather at the park adjacent to American Lake. Lakewood Police Sergeant Charles Porche described arriving at a “very hectic scene,” with medics transporting five victims to hospitals and two others arriving independently.
It is one of the great tragedies, right? You don’t want anybody to get shot and then you end up with seven different victims that happen out of this act of violence that, so far, we don’t know why.
No suspects have been identified, and investigators remain uncertain whether the victims were targeted or how many shooters were involved. Sergeant Porche emphasised the tragedy of violence disrupting community spaces.
We’ve had these couple days here where the sun finally came out and it’s been a gorgeous time for people to get out and enjoy the park, the lake and then you have something like this that happens.
The park, a popular lakeside recreational area near Tacoma, remained closed overnight as forensic teams scoured for ballistic evidence and witness accounts.
The Lakewood incident follows a deadly Memorial Day shooting in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, where two people were killed and nine injured—including three teenagers—amid holiday gatherings. In that case, police recovered three types of bullet casings, indicating multiple shooters using rapid-fire weapons, possibly equipped with illegal “switches” to enable automatic fire.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker condemned the “heinous act of violence,” vowing not to “normalise the behaviour.”
While no direct link exists between the Washington and Pennsylvania attacks, both highlight recurring patterns: unprovoked violence in public spaces, warm-weather gatherings turning lethal, and challenges in suspect identification.
