By Tim Stelloh -
NBC News
Authorities in Illinois were looking this Sunday for two suspects of opening fire during a Halloween party: the balance was two dead and more than a dozen injured.
The shooting occurred early Sunday morning at a party in Joliet, southwest Chicago, during an event attended by about 200 people, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The shooting began near a DJ's table on the patio, authorities said.
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Agents claimed, citing witnesses, that one of the men - described as a Hispanic man wearing a red sweater -
fired from a raised porch from where he could see the entire crowd.
Authorities suspect that the second attacker is a light-skinned man, wearing a ski mask and a yellow sweater with a hat.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene.
None were identified.
Four others were transferred to local hospitals, according to a statement.
There were no additional details about what happened.
The wave of gun violence hits Chicago and New York this weekend
July 13, 202100: 34
"Unprecedented" Increase in Crimes
The men opened fire less than an hour after another shooting, also at a recorded Halloween party in East Texas that left a young man dead and 9 injured.
Both shootings come amid what experts have called an "unprecedented" spike in killings in the United States.
According to FBI data released last month, the number of violent crimes increased by 30% in 2020, even though the homicide rate is even lower than it was in the 1990s.
[Why Biden's Actions to Prevent Gun Violence Are Not Enough, Expert Says]
Rapes, aggravated assaults and other violent crimes increased 5% during the same period, according to the data.
Experts are uncertain about what is behind the increase in crime, although some have pointed to the coronavirus pandemic and possession of weapons as possible explanations.
