HIGHLAND PARK, Sick. — Six folks have been killed and a minimum of two dozen have been injured when a gunman fired on a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Sick., on Monday morning, the authorities mentioned. Police mentioned they believed he had fired from a rooftop, utilizing a rifle.
The Highland Park Police mentioned Monday afternoon that they have been persevering with to seek for the gunman and that that they had put a fringe in place across the downtown space. Individuals in that space have been inspired to shelter in place, they mentioned.
Consultant Brad Schneider, who represents Highland Park, a northern Chicago suburb, in Congress, mentioned he was initially of the parade when somebody started to shoot. He mentioned he and his workers have been secure and involved with the town’s mayor. Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago mentioned her metropolis’s police division was offering help to Highland Park.
“Legislation enforcement is working laborious to deliver the shooter into custody,” Ms. Lightfoot mentioned.
The close by suburbs of Evanston and Deerfield canceled their very own vacation occasions due to the incident.
Miles Zaremski, 73, a Highland Park resident who was on the parade, mentioned in an interview that he heard what appeared like gunshots from an computerized rifle. “I used to be within the service a very long time in the past, so I do know what that sound produces,” he mentioned.
Mr. Zaremski mentioned he was a couple of block away when he heard the “pop pop pop pop pop.”
“At first I believed it was a backfire or perhaps was a firecracker,” he mentioned, “however then swiftly there was a stampede of the gang who was attending on both aspect of the road. So I sort of gingerly walked up, and swiftly I noticed folks bloodied.”
He described the celebration as a “garden selection, suburban Fourth of July parade.” The capturing, he mentioned, led to a “horrific” scene of terrified folks and bloodied our bodies. “I’ve by no means seen something prefer it in my life,” he mentioned, including, “It was chaos.”
One attendee, Lisa Schulkin, mentioned the mayhem started shortly after the parade began at 10 a.m. “Impulsively you simply heard the gunshots, a number of and fast in a row, after which lots, lots of individuals working,” she informed a neighborhood information station, WGN9. “The streets have been simply stuffed with folks working, children crying,” she added.
Ms. Schulkin mentioned that she was in a car parking zone and hid beneath a automotive with a number of others till about 10:45, when her husband was in a position to arrive close by and he or she might attain his automotive. Native information footage confirmed folding chairs, parade autos and floats — some embellished in American flags and purple, white and blue tinsel — deserted on the street.
Highland Park is a suburb that’s house to about 30,000 folks. It’s located alongside the Lake Michigan shore, about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago.
Claire Fahy contributed reporting.
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