6 dead, several injured in mass shooting at Fourth of July parade in Chicago

News, US July 5, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

A gunman opened fire on a 4th of July parade at Highland Park in the Chicago suburbs, leaving six dead and injuring more than 36 people.

According to the Chicago police officials, the ‘completely random’ attack took place at around 10:14 A.M. local time at Central Avenue and 2nd Street in downtown Highland Park during the city’s Fourth of July parade.

The event was scheduled to include floats, marching bands, musical shows, and community entertainment to mark the celebrations for American Independence Day. However, the celebrations soon turned into panic and chaos as the shooter opened fire at the parade from a top of a building only a few minutes after the parade started.

Five adults were killed right on the scene while one more victim passed away while being taken to the hospital. City mayor Nancy Rotering stated that “on a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we’re instead mourning the tragic loss of life.”

*^{Police deployed at the Highland Park area parade scene after the Fourth of July shooting. (Image Credit: WLS-TV/ABC 7/Reuters)}*

The police have identified the shooter as 22-years-old Robert ‘Bobby’ E Crimo, who used a high-powered rifle and fired around 200 shots at paradegoers from a rooftop.

Earlier Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli told reporters that “we are aggressively looking for the individual responsible for this shooting.” At about 6:45 P.M. the police confirmed that they had captured Crimo on U.S. 41 at Westleigh Road in Lake Forest.

U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement about the Highland Park shooting incident stating, “Jill and I are shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day.”

Biden praised the first responders at the scene and the law enforcement agencies for their swift response to the incident. The U.S. president also said that he is in contact with the Governor of Illinois J. B. Pritzker and Highland Park’s Mayor Nancy Rotering, and has offered the full support of the Federal government to their communities.

*^{Police search the downtown Highland Park area after the Fourth of July shooting. (Image Credit: Tyler Pasciak Lariviere/AP)}*

Although gun violence and mass shootings in the U.S. suburbs are not as high as in the urban areas, in the recent few months such incidents have increased in the suburbs of big cities, especially during the holidays.

According to the Chicago police, prior to this incident, at least 55 people had been shot and 7 killed over the holiday weekend since July 1 evening. Last year more than 100 people were shot and 19 killed over the Fourth of July weekend.

The current incident of mass shooting comes just a month after the deadly shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, and only one week after Congress passed bipartisan legislation on gun control in the United States