Police find man suspected of shooting at Chicago-area parade

The 22-year-old man has been identified as the suspect in the July 4 parade shooting in suburban Chicago, police said.

Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said earlier that Robert E Crimo III, who should be considered armed and dangerous, was stopped by police Monday night after a brief pursuit.

Hundreds of marchers, parents with prams and children on bicycles were left in terror after a gunman opened fire on a roof at a Chicago suburban Independence Day parade, killing at least six and injuring 30. escape in.

The suspect was at large for hours after the incident, and authorities searched the area and police surrounded a house listed as his likely address.

The July 4 shootings were only the latest to break American habits. Schools, churches, grocery stores and now community marches have all become killing fields in recent months. This time, the bloodshed comes as the country tries to find a reason to celebrate its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.

“It’s devastating that the celebration of America being torn apart by our uniquely American plague,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news conference.

“I’m outraged because it doesn’t have to be…While we only celebrate the Fourth of July once a year, mass shootings have become a weekly – yes, weekly – American tradition.”

The shooting occurred at a spot along the parade route, where many residents had set up a major viewing point for the annual celebration earlier in the day.

Dozens of bullets fired hundreds of marchers – some visibly bleeding – to flee. They left behind a string of abandoned items that were suddenly and violently disrupted: a half-eaten bag of potato chips; a box of chocolate chip cookies spilled on the grass; a child’s Chicago Cubs hat.

“Several deceased” died at the scene, including one who was taken to the hospital and died there, Lake County Serious Crimes Squad spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference. Police have not released details of the victims or injured.

Lake County Coroner Jennifer Bannek said the five people killed in the march were adults, but there was no information on a sixth victim who was taken to the hospital and died there.

One of the victims was a Mexican national, Roberto Velasco, Mexico’s director of North American affairs, tweeted on Monday. He said two other Mexicans were injured.

North Shore University Health admitted 26 patients following the attack. All but one had gunshot wounds, said Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of emergency preparedness. Their ages ranged from 8 to 85, and Dr. Temple estimated that four or five patients were children.

Of those, 19 were treated and discharged, Dr. Temple said. Others were transferred to other hospitals, while two stable patients remain at Highland Park Hospital.

Authorities said the gunman opened fire at around 10.15am, when the parade was about three-quarters of the way through.

Highland Park Police Commander Chris O’Neill, the incident commander at the scene, said the gunman apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot atop a commercial building that he “had difficulty seeing”.

He said the rifle was found at the scene. Police also found a ladder on the building.

“A very random, very deliberate and very sad day,” Mr Coveley said.

President Joe Biden said on Monday that he and First Lady Jill Biden were “appalled by the senseless gun violence that once again brought grief to the American community on this Independence Day.”

Mr. Biden signed the broadest gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades, a compromise that shows both progress on a long-standing thorny issue and the persistence of deep-rooted partisan divisions.

Highland Park, a tight-knit community of about 30,000 people on the shores of Lake Michigan north of Chicago, with mansions and sprawling lakefront estates, has long attracted the wealthy and sometimes celebrities, including NBA legend Michael Jordan, where he lived. Over the years, he played for the Chicago Bulls.

Mr. Pritzker, a Democrat, has pledged to support the community and bring the shooter to justice.

“The kind of evil that emerges in a public celebration of freedom, hiding on rooftops and shooting innocent people with assault rifles, is beyond words,” Mr Pritzker said.