HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) \u2014 A gunman on a rooftop opened fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago on Monday, killing at least six people, wounding at least 30 and sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror, police said. The suspect remained on the loose hours later as authorities scoured the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highland Park Police Commander Chris O\u2019Neill, the incident commander on scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect. He said Monday afternoon that a \u201cvery active apprehension effort\u201d was underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The July 4 shooting was just the\u00a0latest to shatter\u00a0the rituals of American life. Schools, churches, grocery stores and now community parades have all become killing grounds in recent months. This time, the bloodshed came as the\u00a0nation tried to find cause to celebrate\u00a0its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mayor Nancy Rotering said the violence \u201chas shaken us to our core,\u201d adding, \u201cOn a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we are instead mourning the tragic loss of life and struggling with the terror that was brought upon us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shooting occurred at a spot on the parade route where many residents had staked out prime viewing points early in the day for the annual celebration. Dozens of fired bullets sent hundreds of parade-goers \u2014 some visibly bloodied \u2014 fleeing. They left a trail of abandoned items that showed everyday life suddenly, violently disrupted: A half-eaten bag of potato chips; a box of chocolate cookies spilled onto the grass; a child\u2019s Chicago Cubs cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no safe place,\u201d said Highland Park resident Barbara Harte, 73, who had stayed away from the parade fearing a mass shooting, but later ventured from her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference \u201cseveral of the deceased victims\u201d died at the scene and one was taken to a hospital and died there. Police have not released details about the victims or wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said the five people killed at the parade were adults and she doesn\u2019t have information on the sixth victim who was taken to a hospital and died there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roberto Velasco, Mexico\u2019s director for North American affairs, said on Twitter Monday that one Mexican national was killed in Highland Park and added that two other Mexicans were wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of emergency preparedness for NorthShore University Health Center, said the Highland Park hospital received 26 patients after the attack and all but one had gunshot wounds. Their ages ranged from 8 to 85, and Temple estimated that four or five patients were children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said 19 of them were treated and discharged. Others were transferred to other hospitals, while two patients, in stable condition, remained at the Highland Park hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shooter opened fire around 10:15 a.m., when the parade was about three-quarters through, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Covelli said the gunman apparently used a \u201chigh-powered rifle\u201d to fire from a spot atop a commercial building where he was \u201cvery difficult to see.\u201d He said the rifle was recovered at the scene. Police also found a ladder attached to the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery random, very intentional and a very sad day,\u201d Covelli said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden on Monday said he and first lady Jill Biden were \u201cshocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day.\u201d He said he had \u201csurged Federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter, who remains at large at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were conducting an urgent trace of the rifle, agency spokesperson April Langwell said. Federal agents conduct such traces to identify when, where and to whom the gun was last sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden signed the widest-ranging gun violence bill\u00a0passed by Congress in decades, a compromise that showed at once both progress on a long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police believe there was only one shooter but warned that he should still be considered armed and dangerous. Several nearby cities canceled events including parades and fireworks, some of them noting that the Highland Park shooter was still at large. Evanston, Deerfield, Skokie, Waukegan and Glencoe canceled events. The Chicago White Sox also announced on Twitter that a planned post-game fireworks show is canceled due to the shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have a tragic mass act of violence that was random here today at a community event where people were gathered to celebrate, and the offender has not been apprehended thus far,\u201d Covelli, the crime task force spokesman, said. \u201cSo, could this happen again? We don\u2019t know what his intentions are at this point, so certainly we\u2019re not sure of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 100 law enforcement officers were called to the parade scene or dispatched to find the suspected shooter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hours after the shooting, law enforcement officers searched an office building near where the shooting occurred. Nearby, armed FBI agents in camouflage had also escorted a family with two small girls across Central Avenue. The children looked visibly frightened even as their mother attempted to reassure them that the agents leading and flanking them would protect them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, you\u2019re safe now,\u201d she told them. \u201cThese guys will protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ominous signs of a joyous event suddenly turned to horror filled both sides of Central Avenue where the shooting occurred. Dozens of baby strollers \u2014 some bearing American flags, abandoned children\u2019s bikes and a helmet bedecked with images of Cinderella were left behind. Blankets, lawn chairs, coffees and water bottles were knocked over as people fled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highland Park is a close-knit community of about 30,000 people located on the shores of Lake Michigan just north of Chicago, with mansions and sprawling lakeside estates that have long drawn the rich and sometimes famous, including NBA legend Michael Jordan, who lived in the city for years when he played for the Chicago Bulls. John Hughes filmed parts of several movies in the city, including \u201cFerris Bueller\u2019s Day Off,\u201d \u201cSixteen Candles\u201d and \u201cWeird Science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement: \u201cThere are no words for the kind of monster who lies in wait and fires into a crowd of families with children celebrating a holiday with their community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gina Troiani and her son were lined up with his daycare class ready to walk onto the parade route when she heard a loud sound that she believed was fireworks \u2014 until she heard people yell about a shooter. In a video that Troiani shot on her phone, some of the kids are visibly startled at the loud noise, and they scramble to the side of the road as a siren wails nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe just start running in the opposite direction,\u201d she told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her 5-year-old son was riding his bike decorated with red and blue curled ribbons. He and other children in the group held small American flags. The city said on its website that the festivities were to include a children\u2019s bike and pet parade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Troiani said she pushed her son\u2019s bike, running through the neighborhood to get back to their car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was just sort of chaos,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were people that got separated from their families, looking for them. Others just dropped their wagons, grabbed their kids and started running.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with coworkers and the group was preparing to turn onto the main route when she saw people running from the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople started saying: \u2018There\u2019s a shooter, there\u2019s a shooter, there\u2019s a shooter,\u2019\u201d Glickman told the AP. \u201cSo we just ran. We just ran. It\u2019s like mass chaos down there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She didn\u2019t hear any noises or see anyone who appeared to be injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m so freaked out,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just so sad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) \u2014 A gunman on a rooftop opened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1622,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620\/revisions\/1622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}