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Police have arrested a stakeholder in a mass shooting at a July 4 parade in Illinois.
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The shooting left 6 dead and at least 31 injured.
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Police are now questioning a 22-year-old resident of the area named Robert E. Crimo III.
Police have arrested a stakeholder in a shooting that targeted a Fourth of July parade in the community of Highland Park, Illinois, in the Chicago area that killed six people and injured at least 31.
Authorities are now questioning the area’s 22-year-old resident Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III after a two-hour manhunt Monday night.
The parade started around 10 a.m. Monday, but was stopped 10 minutes later after the shots were fired, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
A 40-second clip shared on TikTok and later deleted showed the parade abruptly stopped after gunshots were heard. Parade-goers left their belongings behind as they rose to seek safety.
Another video posted to Twitter by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet also showed people running.
My video.. I was there #Highland Park Parade.. Terrified people fleeing the July 4th parade as the shooting started. pic.twitter.com/DSe0NJOuem
— Lynn Sweet (@lynnsweet) July 4, 2022
Five adults were killed at the scene, while one died after being transported, coroner Jennifer Banek said.
Fire chief Joe Schrage said his department transported about 24 people to the hospital, while additional injured people brought themselves in. Schrage also said members of the public responded quickly to apply tourniquets and control bleeding, which “greatly helped” the efforts of first responders.
Police said they are investigating the city’s central business district, where the gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop, which they said was accessed by an “unsecured” ladder in an alley.
“There is no indication that he has been barricaded or has any hostages,” said Chris Covelli, spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. “Looks like he was shooting from a rooftop. The roof he shot from, I have no indication of that at the moment.”
Covelli did not reveal a motive for the shooting, but said it “appears to be completely random”.
Police said people had to disperse and said, “It’s not safe to be here,” according to AP News.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker shared on Twitter that he was “closely monitoring the situation” in Highland Park and that state police are on the scene. At 3:30 p.m. local time, a search operation involving K9 units and drones in the area was still underway.
“At 10:14 this morning, our community was terrorized by an act of violence that has shaken us to the core,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said at a news conference. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims at this devastating time. On a day when we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we instead mourn the tragic loss of life and grapple with the terror that has been brought upon us.”
The city’s ‘Fourth Party’ has been canceled and the public is urged to avoid downtown.
President Joe Biden said he and First Lady Jill Biden were “shocked” by the news: “I’m not going to give up the fight against the epidemic of gun violence.”
† Insider
