Fatal shootings in the U.S. have continued unchecked since House Democrats staged a sit-in last month to protest Republicans’ refusal to act on gun reform in the wake of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.
The protesting lawmakers wanted to hold votes on measures that would expand background checks on firearm purchases and prohibit sales to people on the so-called no-fly list. The votes didn’t happen.
Here, we highlight 10 deadly shootings that have happened since the 26-hour protest in the House. These shootings weren’t accidents or acts of self-defense, and they didn’t involve police. These were acts of violence committed by people with bad intentions and access to guns.
On June 24, Christy Sheats reportedly called a family meeting before shooting her two daughters ― Taylor, 22, and Madison, 17 ― inside their Texas home. She then finished the fatal attack in the street, according to authorities. Police later fatally shot Sheats.
Two people were killed in late June when a shooting broke out during an unauthorized party at a dance studio in Fort Worth, Texas. The victims were identified as Treavon Lewis, 22, and Jordan Larkin, 18.
In another incident late last month, 47-year-old Salomon Diaz ― reportedly enraged by the decision reached at a custody hearing in Navajo County, Arizona ― fatally shot the children’s mother, 25-year-old Ashley Utley, and maternal grandmother, 45-year-old Sherry Quintero-Davenport.
Mickey Russell allegedly fired a gun at his wife, Cara Russell, multiple times in a Denver office building on June 28. She died the next day. Cara had reportedly filed for divorce earlier this year.
Louis Barbati, the co-owner of a well-known pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York, was shot and killed outside his house by a hooded gunman on June 30. Authorities believe the slaying may have resulted from a botched robbery but a large sum of money remained on his person. The restaurant had reportedly once been the center of a mob dispute over a stolen pizza sauce recipe.
Three armed men reportedly tried to rob Maher Yousef, 24, while he sat in his car at a gas station in Buena Park, California, on July 1. Yousef was shot in the head during the attack.
Martha Ligon reportedly began following a random car on July 1. Authorities say she began shooting at random people when the vehicle reached its destination in Carlisle County, Kentucky. Ligon then got back into her car and fatally shot her husband, Ray Ligon, in the neck, police said.
Bernardino De Jesus, 23, was celebrating the Fourth of July at a block party in Santa Maria, California, when shots rang out from a passing car. He was hit and killed.
Three or four men reportedly opened fire at an Independence Day block party near downtown Houston, killing three people. Witnesses said one of the deaths may have been a revenge killing.
Jennifer Brewer Rooney, a 44-year-old newspaper deliverywoman in Bristol, Tennessee, was shot and killed on the job this week. Her car crashed through a chain link fence. A suspect was shot during the incident, police said, and later apprehended.
These cases represent just a fraction of the fatal shootings that have taken place recently in the U.S. ― where guns kill an estimated 36 people every day.
Before You Go
