At least six people are dead and a further 24 left wounded after a gunman opened fire at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb, police have said. Hundreds of marchers, parents with buggies and children on bicycles began fleeing from the celebrations at Highland Park on Monday morning.
The shooting in Highland Park disrupted the annual parade just after it began at 10am local time. The suspect, who had apparently fired from a concealed spot on a rooftop, remained on the loose hours later as authorities scoured the area.
Highland Park police commander Chris O’Neill, the incident commander at the scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect.
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Police reportedly told people: “Everybody disburse, please. It is not safe to be here.” Videos shot by a Sun-Times journalist after the gunfire rang out shows a band on a float continuing to play as people run past, screaming.
Lake County major crime taskforce spokesman Christopher Covelli said “several of the deceased victims” died at the scene and one was taken to a hospital and died there. Authorities said the gunman opened fire at about 10.15am, when the parade was about three-quarters through.
Mayor Nancy Rotering said the violence “has shaken us to our core”, adding, “On a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we are instead mourning the tragic loss of life and struggling with the terror that was brought upon us.”
The shooting happened at a spot on the parade route where many residents had staked out prime viewing points early in the day for the annual celebration. Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with co-workers and the group was prepared to turn onto the main route when she saw people running away from the area.
“People started saying ‘there’s a shooter, there’s a shooter, there a shooter’,” Ms Glickman told the Associated Press. “So we just ran. We just ran. It’s like mass chaos down there. I’m so freaked out. It’s just so sad."
Mr Biden on Monday said he and first lady Jill Biden were “shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day”.
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