At least six people were killed and 30 injured on Monday after a gunman fired on the crowd at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
It is believed that the gunman fired from a rooftop, law enforcement officials said, and they recovered a rifle from the scene. Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said police have identified Robert E. Crimo III, 22, as a person of interest in the shooting, and he is considered armed and dangerous. His car is described as a silver Honda Fit with the Illinois license plate DM 80653.
In response to the shooting, several nearby communities canceled their own Fourth of July events. “On a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we’re instead mourning the loss, the tragic loss of life, and struggling with the terror that was brought upon us,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said.
Highland Park resident Miles Zaremski told The New York Times he heard the gunfire, and thought “it was a backfire or maybe was a firecracker, but then all of a sudden there was a stampede of the crowd who was attending on either side of the street. So I kind of gingerly walked up, and all of a sudden I saw people bloodied.” He added, “I have never seen anything like that in my life. It was chaos.”
Highland Park is about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago, with a population of 30,000.
This is a breaking news story, and has been updated throughout.
