Five people were killed and 19 wounded in a shooting in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, at a July 4 parade. on Monday, in what law enforcement is calling an active shooter situationinformed the authorities.
The situation remains as an active shooter and the aggressor remained a fugitive. According to witnesses, the suspected shooter was on the roof of a store and began shooting into the crowd following the parade.
“The guy was pointing his gun downtown. I felt like the shooting went on for minutes, there was no end to it,” Shawn Cotreau told CBS Chicago television.
“We heard what appeared to be fireworks. As he was running, there was a third round of shots fired,” a witness told ABC News.
Roberto Velasco, head of the North American Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Consulate in Chicago “is already in contact with the authorities to find out if there are Mexicans affected”.
Highland Park resident Miles Zaremski told the Chicago Sun Times: “I heard 20 to 25 shots, one after another. So it couldn’t have been a handgun.” At least five people have died and 19 have been taken to hospitals after a shooting at a July 4 parade in a suburb of Chicago, said police, who are still searching for the man. aggressor.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade began around 10:00 a.m. but came to an abrupt halt 10 minutes later when gunshots rang out. A Sun-Times reporter saw blankets placed over three bloodied bodies. Several witnesses told the newspaper they heard gunshots. Hundreds of attendees, some visibly bloodied, fled the parade, leaving behind chairs, prams and blankets.
“Everyone disperse, please. It is not safe to be here,” the police asked those present.
Highland Park police said in a statement Monday morning that five people have died and 19 have been taken to hospitals. At the moment it is not clear if the five dead were counted among the 19 people hospitalized.
Police stressed that authorities are still searching for the suspect.
A video taken by a Sun-Times reporter after the shooting shows a band in a float continuing to play as people run past screaming. A photo posted on social media appears to show pools of blood near overturned chairs in downtown Highland Park. Gina Troiani and her son were lined up with their kindergarten class, ready to enter the parade route, when she heard a loud noise that she thought was fireworks, until she heard people yelling about a shooter.
“We started running in the opposite direction,” he told The Associated Press.
Her five-year-old son rode his bicycle decorated with curly red and blue ribbons. He and other children in the group held small American flags. The municipal authorities indicated on their website that the festivities were to include a parade of bicycles and pets for children.
Troiani said she pushed her son’s bike, running through the neighborhood to get back to her car. In a video Troiani recorded on her phone, some of the children are visibly startled by the loud noise, then move to the side of the road as a siren sounds.
“It was kind of chaotic,” he said. “There were people who were separated from their families, looking for them. Others just dropped what they were carrying, grabbed their children and started running.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in a tweet that he is “closely monitoring the situation in Highland Park” and that the Illinois State Police are providing assistance. State police detailed in an email that he was assisting in the response to a reported active shooter around 10:24 a.m.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office tweeted that it is assisting Highland Park Police “with a shooting in the area of the Independence Day parade route.”