On Sept. 8, Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom's longest reigning monarch, died at the age of 96. Some social media users are circulating a bizarre claim about her death.
An Instagram post shared on Sept. 9 shows an image of the queen with text overlaying it that reads "Queen Elizabeth shot dead in Detroit."
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"Can’t have s--- in Detroit," reads the caption of the post.
Various other posts say she was shot dead in Houston; Memphis, Tennessee; and Philadelphia.
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The posts together generated more than 50,000 likes in less than a week. Similar posts have amassed hundreds of interactions on Instagram.
But the claim is baseless.
The queen's last visit to the U.S. was in 2007, so it is not possible she was shot dead in Detroit or any of the cities the posts claim. She was suffering from health issues in recent months and died peacefully at her estate in Scotland, according to news reports.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.
Buckingham Palace announced in a Sept. 8 statement that the queen was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle, her private estate in Scotland. That same day, the Royal Family tweeted that she had died "peacefully."
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