Five killed, two dozen wounded in Philadelphia and Chattanooga mass shootings

America’s gun violence epidemic shows no sign of stopping with five people killed and two dozen wounded in more mass shootings. WARNING: GRAPHIC

Five people were killed and two dozen others wounded in a pair of weekend mass shootings in the United States, the latest in a string of deadly gun attacks that have left politicians scrambling to tackle the crisis.

The shootings – late Saturday in Philadelphia and early Sunday in Chattanooga, Tennessee -further jolted a country facing a gun violence epidemic that has already claimed several thousand American lives this year and shows no signs of abating.

They come as polarised US senators find themselves under pressure to craft a measure that codifies at least basic, preliminary steps to help reduce the carnage.

South Street, Philadelphia last night at time of mass shooting https://t.co/Ayi4T8kjiD

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 5, 2022

WATCH: A Nest camera from Downtown Charleston captured last night’s shooting on South Street. Numerous people can be seen walking around before dozens of shots ring out for roughly 50 seconds. People can be seen running and heard screaming. @WCBDpic.twitter.com/Sjk4B16jxh

— Riley Benson (@RealRileyBenson) May 31, 2022

In Philadelphia, two men and a woman were killed when multiple people opened fire on a crowd at a popular South Street night-life area.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said one of the victims had gotten into a fight with another man, which could have been the cause of the shooting.

The two others were “innocent bystanders,” she told reporters.

An eruption of violence in Chattanooga resulted in 14 people being shot, including two killed, while another person died and two more were injured after they were struck by vehicles fleeing the scene, police chief Celeste Murphy said, adding “several” victims remained in critical condition.

Screengrabs from video uploaded to the Citizen app of the scene of a mass shooting in Philadelphia. Picture: Supplied

The pre-dawn incident occurred near a nightclub in a downtown section of the city of 180,000.

As of mid-Sunday no arrests had been made in either case, Ms Murphy and Philadelphia media said.

Such gun violence has become almost commonplace in America, but the shock felt over recent mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas have spurred cries for action.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has been working with a bipartisan group of senators on reform measures – a heavy lift with Republicans routinely rejecting most forms of gun control.

Senator Murphy said the group hoped to hammer together a legislative package that draws at least 10 Republican votes on top of expected support from nearly every Democrat.

Saturday night in Philadelphia. A mass shooting on 4th & South Street with reports of nearly a dozen people shot. I’m on scene where police have cordoned off the popular weekend strip, a trail of what appears to be blood snaking along the sidewalk in front of a Rita’s Water Ice. pic.twitter.com/mkUoTvgy2I

— Max M. Marin (@MaxMMarin) June 5, 2022

“I think the possibility of success is better than ever before,” he told CNN.

The emerging package, he said, would probably include “significant mental health investment, school safety money, and some modest but impactful changes in gun laws,” including an expansion of background checks for gun buyers.

“Congress needs to do their jobs and pass commonsense regulation that will help stop this nonsense,” an angry Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly told reporters.

He called for “mandatory background checks and prohibiting high-capacity magazines that allow shooters to hurt dozens of people without even having to reload.”

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan accused Democrats of wanting “to take your guns.”