Six people are dead and 24 have been sent to hospital after a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago-area suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, according to local officials. Police are actively looking for the shooter.
At a press conference on Monday, law enforcement officials told media that the shooting appears “completely random” and it appears the shooter was on a roof with a rifle, which an official from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department says has been recovered.
Hundreds of officers are currently searching for the suspect and SWAT teams are knocking on doors in the small Chicago suburb.
Police said the shooter is a white male, around 18-20 years old with long black hair and a small build.
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In a statement on its website, the city warned residents to “shelter in place” as the hunt continues for the shooter, while a perimeter has been secured in the city’s downtown area.
Mayor Mary R. Rotering said during the conference that the community was “terrorized by an act of violence that has shaken us to our core.”
Illinois State Police are aiding local authorities.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that gunshots rang out about 10 minutes after Highland Park’s parade began at 10 a.m. local time and that multiple people have been injured.
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Gina Troiani and her son were ready to walk the parade route when she heard a loud sound she thought was fireworks until others said there was a shooter, she told the Associated Press.
“We just start running in the opposite direction,” she said.
“It was just sort of chaos … There were people that got separated from their families, looking for them. Others just dropped their wagons, grabbed their kids and started running.”
A U.S. representative for Illinois, Brad Schneider, tweeted that he was at the parade when the shooting began and said he and his team are safe and secure.
Highland Park is a suburb located on Chicago’s north shore.
More to come…
Terrified parade-goers fled Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade after shots were fired, leaving behind their belongings as they sought safety, Monday, July 4, 2022, in Highland Park, Ill.
Lynn Sweet/Chicago Sun-Times via AP
— with files from the Associated Press
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