Person of interest arrested in Fourth of July parade shooting near Chicago, police say

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.

Authorities said a man named as a person of interest in the shooting was taken into police custody Monday evening after an hours-long manhunt in and around Highland Park, an affluent community of about 30,000 on Chicago's north shore.

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 some visibly bloodied 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's Chicago Cubs cap.

"There's no safe place," said Highland Park resident Barbara Harte, 73, who had stayed away from the parade fearing a mass shooting, but later ventured from her home.

Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said a police officer pulled over Robert E. Crimo III about eight kilometresnorth of the shooting scene, several hours after police released the man's photo and an image of his silver Honda Fit, and warned the public that he was likely armed and dangerous. Authorities initially said he was 22, but an FBI bulletin and Crimo's social media said he was 21.

Police declined to immediately identify Crimo as a suspect but said identifying him as a person of interest, sharing his name and other information publicly, was a serious step.

The July 4 shooting was just the latest to shatter the rituals of American life. Schools, churches, grocery stores and now community parades have all become scenes of fatal shootingsin recent months. This time, the shooting came as the country tried to find cause to celebrate its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.

"It is devastating that a celebration of America was ripped apart by our uniquely American plague," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a news conference.

Late Monday night, hours after the Chicago-area shooting, twoPhiladelphiapolice officers were shot near the city's Benjamin Franklin Parkway as thousands of people celebrated a Fourth of July concert and fireworks show.

Both officers werereleased from hospital after suffering non-life threatening injuries,PhiladelphiaMayor Jim Kenney said. Police were searching for the shooter.

WATCH | Witnesses describe parade shooting:

Six killed in Fourth of July parade near Chicago

2 years ago

Duration 1:30

Police in Highland Park, Ill., are asking the public for help after a gunman began shooting at a parade, killing six people while spectators fled for safety.

"I'm furious because it does not have to be this way while we celebrate the Fourth of July just once a year, mass shootings have become a weekly yes, weekly American tradition."

Pritzker, a Democrat, promised support for the community and to bring the gunman to justice.

"There are no words for the kind of evil that shows up at a public celebration of freedom, hides on a roof and shoots innocent people with an assault rifle," hesaid.

Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek saidfive adults were killed at the parade and that she didn't have information on the sixth victim, who was taken to a hospital and died there.

Roberto Velasco, Mexico's director for North American affairs, said on Twitter that one Mexican national was killed in Highland Park and added that two other Mexicans were wounded.

NorthShore University Health Center received 26 patients after the attack. All but one had gunshot wounds, said Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of emergency preparedness. Their ages ranged from eightto 85, and Temple estimated that four or five patients were children.

Temple 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.

'Very random, very intentional'

The shooter opened fire around 10:15 a.m. local time, when the parade was about three-quarters through, authorities said.

Highland Park Police Commander Chris O'Neill, the incident commander on scene, said the gunman apparently used a "high-powered rifle" to fire from a spot atop a commercial building where he was "very difficult to see." He said the rifle was recovered at the scene. Police also found a ladder attached to the building.

Lake County major crime task force spokesperson Christopher Covellisaid it was "very random, very intentional and a very sad day."

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday said he and his wife, Jill Biden, were "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day."

Biden last month signed the widest-ranging gun violence bill passed 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.

Police say they believe there was only one shooter. Several nearby cities cancelled events, including parades and fireworks, some of them noting that the Highland Park shooter was still at large. Evanston, Deerfield, Skokie, Waukegan and Glencoecalled offevents.

The Chicago White Sox also announced on Twitter that a planned post-game fireworks show is cancelled due to the shooting.

More than 100 law enforcement officers were called to the parade scene or dispatched to find the shooter.

More than a dozen police officers had, by evening, surrounded a Highland Park home listed as an address for Crimo. Some officers held rifles as they fixed their eyes on the home. A large armoured truck, marked "Police Rescue Vehicle," occupied the middle of the road near the residence. Police blockaded roads leading to the home in a tree-lined neighbourhood near a golf course, allowing only select law enforcement cars through a tight outer perimeter.

'Mass chaos'

Highland Park is a close-knit communitylocated 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 Ferris Bueller's Day Off,Sixteen Candlesand Weird Science.

Ominous signs of a joyous event suddenly turned to horror filled both sides of Central Avenue where the shooting occurred. Dozens of baby strollers some bearing American flags, abandoned children's 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.

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 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.

"We just start running in the opposite direction," she told The Associated Press.

WATCH | Parade-goers fleeshooting:

Confusion, panic as gunfire erupts at July 4 parade

2 years ago

Duration 0:30

A Fourth of July parade in Chicago was thrown into chaos as gunfire was heard, sending families running from the scene.

Her five-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's bike and pet parade.

Troiani said she pushed her son's bike, running through the neighbourhood to get back to their car.

"It was just sort of chaos," she said. "There were people that got separated from their families, looking for them. Others just dropped their wagons, grabbed their kids and started running."

Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with co-workers and the group was preparing to turn onto the main route when she saw people running from the area.

"People started saying: 'There's a shooter, there's a shooter, there's a shooter,"' Glickman told The Associated Press. "So we just ran. We just ran. It's like mass chaos down there."

She didn't hear any noises or see anyone who appeared to be injured.

"I'm so freaked out," she said. "It's just so sad."