Eight people, including four children, were wounded in a shooting near the Coney Island boardwalk in New York City late on Saturday night, as crowds gathered to watch Fourth of July fireworks. Police say gunfire broke out amid the celebrations, adding a violent note to what was otherwise a nationwide marking of the United States' 250th anniversary of independence.

The Coney Island incident was among the more serious disruptions to the holiday festivities. In a separate and unusual event, a Delta Air Lines aircraft carrying 52 passengers and six crew members was struck by a firework as it descended towards Chicago's Midway International Airport. The flight, operating from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, was approaching the runway at around 200 feet when the pilot reported a loud impact. "We just had a firework hit our plane," the pilot told air traffic control. "Definitely felt a big bang." The plane landed safely, no injuries were reported, and a subsequent inspection found only minor paint damage to the Airbus A319. The incident was reported to aviation authorities and the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the strike.

Air traffic controllers had warned the flight crew before the impact, noting that homes near the approach path were shooting off private fireworks — a common occurrence across the country on Independence Day. "The city is aware," one controller said on the radio. "They said they would notify the Chicago police, but I don't know what they will do." The Chicago Police Department described the aircraft as having been struck by "an unknown object."

The incidents reflect a recurring tension in American Fourth of July celebrations, where large, professionally organised displays — such as the 40-minute fireworks show at Washington DC's National Mall, which prompted the suspension of flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — coexist with widespread and often unsupervised private fireworks use. This year's celebrations carried added symbolic weight as the country commemorated two and a half centuries since its declaration of independence, drawing particularly large crowds to public events across the country.

The New York shooting is a reminder that gun violence continues to cast a shadow over mass gatherings in the United States, even on national holidays. Investigations into both the Coney Island shooting and the Chicago fireworks strike are ongoing.