What happened on the Fourth of July 2022?

Content warning: This report contains a potentially disturbing image of a civilian body.

This year, July Fourth was marred by gun violence, leaving Americans physically and mentally harmed.

A shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, left seven dead and at least 47 injured.

Authorities in Philadelphia are still unsure as to whether the bullets fired there were shot in attack or in jubilation, but the result was the same: two wounded and hundreds fleeing in terror, with many promising to never attend a public event again because the risk of being slaughtered is too constant.

Authorities in Orlando now state no bullets were fired at all when people at a celebration heard what sounded like a shot fired, but the crowds there didn’t wait for confirmation before beginning to scream and scatter.

These photos of the Highland Park aftermath show another familiar scene we all now witness on a regular basis: scattered belongings, crime scene tape, body armor, a manhunt. Reports from the scene say that the children trained in active shooter drills showed the adults how we live now: how to duck and cover, how to evacuate, how to get out of the line of fire. The medical professionals on the scene told us how they work now: facing scenes of shocking carnage alongside the hastily abandoned parade route. Those injured and those now grieving loved ones are already becoming targets for the tireless influencers of the “false flag” cottage industry. And many of those reeling from the events of the day will likely soon do the one thing they feel will protect them in such uncertain times: go out and buy a gun.

Police crime tape is seen near American flag-themed sunglasses laying on the ground at the scene of the Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 4. (YOUNGRAE KIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Abandoned lawn chairs and kids' bikes stand at the scene of the parade shooting in Highland Park on July 4. (YOUNGRAE KIM/AFP via Getty Images)

First responders take away victims from the scene of a mass shooting where seven were killed and nearly 50 injured at a parade on July 4 in Highland Park. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

Law enforcement escorts a family away from the scene of a shooting on July 4 in Highland Park. (Mark Borenstein/Getty Images)

A baby stroller stands at the scene of the parade shooting in Highland Park on July 4. (YOUNGRAE KIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Law enforcement officers enter a storefront in the area of a shooting at a parade on July 4 in Highland Park. (Mark Borenstein/Getty Images)

Law enforcement officers search the area of a shooting at a parade on July 4 in Highland Park. (Mark Borenstein/Getty Images)

Security forces are deployed to the scene after multiple people were reported to have been shot at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park on July 4. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A member of law enforcement sets up a rifle on a roof near the scene of a shooting at a parade on July 4 in Highland Park. (Mark Borenstein/Getty Images)

A man looks through the glass of his front door near the home of the mother of the man detained in the mass shooting at a parade on July 4 in Highland Park. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)