6 killed in shooting at Independence Day parade in U.S. Illinois
Six people have been killed in a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade Monday morning in Highland Park in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. #GLOBALink
Highland Park shooting: Six dead in 4 July parade shooting near Chicago
Police are searching for a rooftop gunman who shot dead six people at an Independence Day parade near the US city of Chicago
The event in the city of Highland Park, Illinois, was suddenly halted shortly after 10:00 local time (15:00 GMT), when several shots were heard. Twenty-four people were taken to hospital, officials say. A suspect has been named as Robert E Crimo III, 22. Police said he is considered armed and dangerous. Police said the suspect appeared to have targeted the parade's attendees at random with a high-powered rifle. The suspected gunman opened fire at the parade at around 10:15 local time, just a few minutes after it began.
The event was scheduled to include floats, marching bands, and community entertainment as part of the city's Independence Day celebrations. But what should have been one of the happiest days of the year quickly turned to panic, with pushchairs, purses and lawn chairs left discarded on the street as crowds fled from the scene. The suspect is believed to have fired at members of the public from the rooftop of a nearby shop, where police say they recovered "evidence of a firearm."
Five adults were killed at the scene, as well as a further victim who the local coroner said died in a nearby hospital. "On a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we're instead mourning the tragic loss of life," said city mayor Nancy Rotering. The Fourth of July is a national holiday marking the date the American colonies declared independence from Great Britain in 1776.
At least six dead in shooting at July Fourth parade outside Chicago
Multiple people were killed and injured in a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. on July 4. (Video: The Washington Post)
A gunman perched on a rooftop fired dozens of rounds at spectators at a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb on Monday, killing at least six people and adding yet another name to the list of American towns caught up in a countrywide wave of mass-casualty shootings.
More than 40 additional victims were treated at hospitals after the shooter, described by police as a young man armed with a high-powered rifle, blasted seemingly at random into a crowd gathered to cheer on local marching bands in Highland Park, Ill., a community of about 30,000 people on greater Chicago’s affluent North Shore. At least two long bursts of rapid gunfire left five people dead at the scene and sent hundreds of people fleeing in panic, leaving a wake of overturned lawn chairs, coolers and strollers. The wounded included young children as well as people in their 80s. One spectator, a father, put his young son in a dumpster for safety as he scrambled to find and shield other family members while bullets rained down.
The shooting comes weeks after high-profile, mass-casualty shootings at a Buffalo grocery store, where 10 Black people died and a suspect has been charged with a hate crime, and at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., where 19 children and two adults lost their lives. Both of those events involved 18-year-olds armed with assault-style rifles. So far this year, the United States has recorded more than 250 mass shootings, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.
Six killed, dozens hurt in shooting at Chicago-area July 4 parade
Authorities say a gunman fired a 'high-powered rifle' on a parade in Highland Park, a community of about 30,000 residents some 40km (25 miles) north of Chicago, sending hundreds of attendees fleeing [Nam Y Huh/AP Photo]
A gunman perched on a rooftop has opened fire on families waving flags and children riding bicycles during an Independence Day parade near the US city of Chicago, killing at least six people and wounding 36 others. The shooting in Highland Park, a community of about 30,000 residents some 40km (25 miles) north of Chicago, Illinois, caused panicked mayhem on Monday as hundreds of marchers, including parents with strollers, fled the scene in terror.
Hours later, authorities said a man named as a “person of interest” in the shooting was taken into police custody. He was identified as 22-year-old Robert E Crimo III. Christopher Covelli, a spokesperson for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, told reporters the attacker apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot atop a building where he was “very difficult to see”. “Very random, very intentional and a very sad day,” he said.
The shooting comes as the United States struggles to stem a surge in gun violence and after a string of recent deadly incidents, including a massacre at a Texas primary school, has renewed calls for stricter gun regulations in the country.
6 Dead, 30 Hurt in Shooting at Chicago-Area July 4 Parade
Law enforcement search after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb on Monday, July 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
A gunman on a rooftop opened fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago on Monday, killing at least six people, wounding at least 30 and sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror, police said. Authorities said a man named as a person of interest in the shooting was taken into police custody Monday evening after an hourslong manhunt in and around Highland Park, an affluent community of about 30,000 on Chicago’s north shore.
The July 4 shooting was just the latest to shatter the rituals of American life. Schools, churches, grocery stores and now community parades have all become killing grounds in recent months. This time, the bloodshed came as the nation tried to find cause to celebrate its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.
“It definitely hits a lot harder when it’s not only your hometown but it’s also right in front of you,” resident Ron Tuazon said as he and a friend returned to the parade route Monday evening to retrieve chairs, blankets and a child’s bike that he and his family abandoned when the shooting began. “It’s commonplace now,” Tuazon said of what he called yet another American atrocity. “We don’t blink anymore. Until laws change, it’s going to be more of the same.”
Horror on the Fourth: Suspect in custody after 6 killed, dozens wounded at Highland Park Fourth of July parade
Police in Highland Park escort people Monday afternoon who had sought a safe place after a shooter with a high-powered rifle opened fire hours earlier at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade.Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Sun-Times
More than eight hours after a gunman killed six people and wounded dozens more by firing a “high-powered rifle” from a rooftop onto a crowd attending Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade, police pulled over and peacefully arrested a man in Lake Forest they said was a suspect in one of the worst mass shootings in Illinois history.
At 6:45 p.m. Monday, the Highland Park police said a “person of interest” — identified as Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, 21 — had been “taken into custody without incident” on U.S. 41 at Westleigh Road in Lake Forest. The arrest came after he was spotted by a North Chicago police officer and following a short chase. Crimo was taken to the Highland Park police station, police Chief Lou Jogmen said. Christopher Covelli of the Lake County sheriff’s office and the Lake County major crimes task force said authorities were using the terms “suspect” and “person of interest” interchangeably.
As of 9 p.m., no charges had been filed, and the police gave no indication of what the motive for the shootings might have been. As news of the arrest spread, people began driving by the Highland Park police station and expressing their thanks to officers, yelling “thank you” and “good job.”
6 Killed In Shooting At July 4 Parade Near Chicago, Suspect Arrested
Six people were killed and at least 24 wounded after gunfire erupted at a US Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb today, authorities said. A gunman began firing from the roof of a retail store into the parade below just minutes after the celebrations began, as per local reports. The suspected shooter, Robert Crimo, 22, has been arrested. He was taken into custody "without incident" after a brief car chase, Highland Park police chief Lou Jogmen told reporters.
A video on social media shows parade participants suddenly fleeing in panic as shots were fired in the streets of Highland Park, an affluent suburban city. Families are seen sitting on a sidewalk watching the parade. In the next frame, they are seen leaping up from the ground and running, a voice yelling "gunshots" can be heard in the background. "At this time, two dozen people have been transported to Highland Park hospital. Six are confirmed deceased," Commander Chris O'Neil of the city's police said.
The city of Highland Park announced that all July 4 festivities had been canceled as a result. "Highland Park Police are responding to an incident in downtown Highland Park. All 4th of July events have been canceled. Please avoid downtown Highland Park. Take shelter if in downtown HP. More information will be shared as it becomes available," its post on Facebook read. President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill were "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day."
Over 200 mass shootings so far in 2022
There have already been more than 300 mass shootings this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The shooting at a Forth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. that left six people dead and dozens injured was one of fourteen mass shootings over the long weekend.
There have been just over 100 since a rampage at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex, left 19 children and two teachers dead on May 24.
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America.
The Founding Father delegates of the Second Continental Congress declared that the Thirteen Colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain, King George III, and were now united, free, and independent states. The Congress voted to approve independence by passing the Lee Resolution on July 2 and adopted the Declaration of Independence two days later, on July 4.
Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches, and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.
Gun violence in the United States
Philadelphia police investigators on June 5, at the scene of a fatal shooting on South Street in the city. (Michael Perez/AP)
On Saturday shortly before midnight, police officers on patrol in a popular nightlife area in Philadelphia heard gunfire and saw “several active shooters” firing into a crowd, Inspector D.F. Pace of the Philadelphia Police Department said at a news conference early Sunday. Three fatalities have been confirmed, two related to gunshot wounds and one related to injuries suffered when a person was struck by a vehicle. Several victims remain in critical condition after what police described as a chaotic and harrowing situation, as hundreds of people were out on a pleasant summer night.
About three hours later, at 2:42 a.m. Sunday, police in Chattanooga responded to reports of shots fired near a nightclub. They found 14 gunshot victims and three people who had been hit by vehicles that “were attempting to flee the scene,” Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy said in a briefing Sunday. Murphy said three people were killed, two who were shot and one who was struck by a vehicle. She said the investigation was ongoing. “Multiple shooters” were involved, she said, but police did not have anyone in custody.
Two mass shootings in 10 days in the U.S.
The assailant apparently died of a self-inflicted wound, said Tulsa deputy police chief Jonathan Brooks. PHOTO: TULSA POLICE DEPARTMENT/FACEBOOK
A man armed with a rifle and handgun killed four people inside a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Wednesday (June 1) before fatally shooting himself, police said, in the latest of a series of mass shootings to rattle the United States.
Police arrived at the St. Francis Hospital three minutes after receiving a call about the shooting on Wednesday afternoon and followed the sound of gunfire up to the Natalie Building’s second floor, Tulsa deputy police chief Jonathan Brooks told reporters. The officers made contact with the victims and the suspect five minutes later, Mr Brooks said.
Police responses have come under increased scrutiny after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in a Texas school classroom last week while officers waited outside for nearly an hour. Wednesday’s incident in Tulsa is the latest in a series of mass shootings that have shocked Americans and reignited debates about gun control. Two weeks before the Uvalde shooting, a white gunman killed 10 people at a supermarket in a Black neighbourhood in Buffalo, New York.
