- Austin, Texas, Savanah, Georgia and Chicago all saw mass shootings earlier on Saturday
- A man was killed in Savannah, with seven others injured, while a woman died in Chicago, with nine injured
- No-one was killed when two gunmen opened fire on drinkers in Austin, but 14 were injured, two of whom remain critically-ill
- Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter Jr and Police Executive Research Forum Director Chuck Wexler fear a summer of gun violence lies ahead
- They say a recent spike in gun crime appears to be a long-term trend, rather than a brief blip
- COVID, and calls to defend the police that have led to staff shortages have been partially-blamed for spiraling crime levels
Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter Jr and Chuck Wexler, from the Police Executive Research Forum, said a recent explosion in the number of shootings appears to be a long term trend, rather than a blip.
Minter spoke after a man was killed and seven were injured in a mass shooting in Savannah on Friday night. Seven others were injured.
He said: 'It's very disturbing what we're seeing across the country and the level of gun violence that we're seeing across the country.
'It's disturbing and it's senseless.'
Commenting on the wider trend - which saw a woman killed and nine injured in Chicago, and 14 shot and injured in Austin - both in the early hours of Saturday, Wexler said: 'There was a hope this might simply be a statistical blip that would start to come down.
'That hasn't happened. And that's what really makes chiefs worry that we may be entering a new period where we will see a reversal of 20 years of declines in these crimes.'
Two of those shot in Austin remain critically ill, with one of two men wanted over the shooting arrested on Saturday evening. No information about that man has been released.
The Chicago attack also involved two shooters, both of them men, who escaped on foot afterwards, and who have not been identified.
Those injured in Savannah include an 18 month-old toddler and 13 year-old, with Minter saying gunfire broke out following a dispute between two families at an apartment complex earlier this week. No information on arrests has been shared.
Police unions say repeated calls to defund - or even abolish - their departments in the wake of George Floyd's murder and other instances of brutality against black Americans have led to mass-resignations, and caused staff shortages.
Top cop fears America will be hit with summer of mass shootings
Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter Jr issued the warning after his city saw one woman killed and seven injured, with other shootings also taking place in Cleveland, Chicago and Austin
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