(Highland Park) At least six people died and 30 were injured in a shooting during a July 4 parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. A 22-year-old man identified as a person of interest in the shooting was arrested Monday night after a manhunt that lasted several hours, police said.
Posted at 12:46 p.m.
Updated at 8:52 p.m.
Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said an officer briefly chased after Robert E. Crimo III as he drove about five miles north of the shooting scene, before the man walked away arrested and taken into custody.
Police declined to immediately identify Mr. Crimo as a suspect, but said identifying him as a person of interest, publicly sharing his name and other information was a serious step.
Highland Park Police Commander Chris O’Neill urged people to shelter in place while authorities still search for the suspect.
PHOTO MAX HERMAN, REUTERS
Lake County Major Crimes Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli told a news conference that the gunman apparently opened fire on parade-goers from a rooftop using guns. a “high-powered rifle” that was recovered from the scene. Police also found a ladder attached to the building.
Mr O’Neill said the shots were fired around 10.15am, and Mr Covelli said the parade was about three quarters of the way through when the shooter opened fire.
PHOTO TYLER PASCIAK LARIVIERE, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES VIA AP
The shooting occurred during the July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
“Very random, very intentional and a very sad day,” he said.
Mr Covelli said police believe there was only one shooter and warned he should always be considered armed and dangerous.
More than 100 law enforcement officers were called to the scene of the parade or dispatched to locate the suspected shooter.
PHOTO TYLER PASCIAK LARIVIERE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Many police have been deployed to Highland Park.
President Joe Biden said Monday that he and First Lady Jill Biden were “shocked by the senseless gun violence that has once again caused heartbreak in an American community on this Independence Day.” He said he had “enlisted federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter, who remains at large at this time.”
The shooting occurred at a location on the parade route where many residents had set up at strategic vantage points for the annual celebration. Dozens of bullets scared away hundreds of parade participants, some visibly bloodied. They left a trail of abandoned objects that bear witness to a suddenly and violently disrupted daily life.
PHOTO LYNN SWEET, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES VIA AP
A pool of blood at the scene of the shooting
NorthShore University Health Center received 26 patients after the attack. All but one had gunshot wounds, said the Dr Brigham Temple, medical director of emergency preparedness. Their ages ranged from 8 to 85, and Mr Temple estimated that four or five patients were children.
The Dr Temple said 19 of them were treated and discharged. Others were transferred to other hospitals, while two patients, in stable condition, remained at Highland Park Hospital.
Hours after the shooting, with bystanders and media standing nearby, more than a dozen officers surrounded a house listed as Crimo’s address in Highland Park. Some officers held guns as they stared at the house. A large armored truck, bearing the inscription Police Rescue Vehicle, occupied the middle of the road near the residence. Police blocked roads leading to the house in a tree-lined neighborhood near a golf course, allowing only some law enforcement cars through a narrow outer perimeter.
Police did not provide any details of the casualties or injuries.
“This morning at 10:14 a.m., our community was terrorized by an act of violence that shook us to the core,” said Mayor Nancy Rotering. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims at this devastating time. On this day when we have come together to celebrate community and freedom, we instead mourn the tragic loss of life and fight the terror that has been inflicted upon us,” she added.
Several nearby towns have canceled events including parades and fireworks, with some highlighting that the Highland Park shooter is still at large.
The shooting of July 4 is the latest to have upset the habits of Americans. Schools, churches, grocery stores and now parades have all become sites of murder in recent months. This time the carnage took place as the nation struggled to find a reason to celebrate its founding and the ties that still bind it.