Gunfire erupted Monday in the town of Highland Park, north of Chicago, where a parade was held for American Independence Day. According to the mayor of the city, quoted by the media, at least 6 people were killed and 24 injured. A previous assessment reported at least 5 dead and 16 injured.
The suspect, described by police as a white male between the ages of 18 and 20, is on the run and “considered armed and dangerous”. A gun was found. The police called on the population to stay under cover until their arrest.
“As we gathered to celebrate our freedom, we must mourn the tragic loss of life and overcome our terror,” city mayor Nancy Rotering said at a press conference.
Hundreds of officers were deployed to apprehend the suspect and come to the aid of the population. On images of the city broadcast on television channels, we see the police circulating in empty streets, where the sidewalks are covered with camping chairs abandoned in panic.
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The suspect has not been identified. He has “long black hair and a white or blue t-shirt,” local police chief Chris O’Neill said.
He was on the ground and crawled along in a methodical, almost military way.
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The shooting broke out as hundreds of people gathered to watch the traditional July 4 parade, which celebrates the declaration of independence of the United States in 1776. A witness, quoted by the local channel WGN, reported having saw a man armed with a rifle open fire in the direction of the public. “He was on the ground and was crawling in a methodical, almost military way,” commented this man named Michael. The crowd threw themselves to the ground before running away as pools of blood formed, he said.
“We heard about 50 gunshots, we all thought it was fireworks,” commented on CNN a woman witness to the drama, who only gave her first name Zoe.
“At one point I saw a girl covered in blood, I had never seen that,” she added, describing a “sea of panic with people falling one after another.”
Adrienne Drell was watching a high school marching band when a man sounded the alarm. “There was panic all over the city,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We are completely stunned. The parade was immediately suspended and festivities were canceled in several nearby towns.
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US President Joe Biden said he was “shocked” by the shooting, and promised in a statement to “not give up on the fight against the epidemic of gun violence”.
The United States is still reeling from a series of shootings, including one in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, which left 21 people dead, including 19 children. The country is more generally facing an increase in gun violence with more than 22,000 people killed since the start of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which incorporates suicides into its data.
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