Two police officers in Philadelphia were shot during the conclusion of a fireworks show for Fourth of July celebrations, on a night when the deadly Highland Park mass shooting cast a pall over merrymaking across the country.

Videos shared by reporters and bystanders offered a glimpse into the chaos in Philadelphia as spectators who had gathered to watch fireworks ran and police sirens echoed through the neighbourhood.

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At the time of writing this, reports suggested that the shooter was still at large, having fled the scene of the crime after firing at the two officers.

One of the officers, from the Philadelphia Police Highway Patrol, suffered a graze would to the head and narrowly escaped death, while the other, from the Montgomery County Bomb Unit, was shot in the shoulder.

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Both officers were promptly transferred to Jefferson University Hospital for treatment, with Fox News reporting that they were both in stable condition.

The incident in Philadelphia took place hours after the Highland Park mass shooting in Illinois, which left six dead and several injured.

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Notably, however, shootings during the Fourth of July weekend is not uncommon in the US.

While the country routinely experiences gun-related homicides and gun-related suicides, the US has seen several incidents of gun violence during the Fourth of July weekend over the past three years. In 2021, for instance, at least 233 people were killed and 618 injured in 500 shooting incidents across the country during the Fourth of July weekend.