HIGHLAND PARK, IL –
A gunman opened fire during the Independence Day parade from a rooftop in a Chicago suburb, raining gunfire into the crowd initially mistaken for fireworks before hundreds of panicked revelers of all ages fled in terror. At least six people were killed and at least 30 were injured.
An hours-long manhunt that had residents hiding in businesses or getting a police escort to their homes ended with a traffic stop and a brief chase Monday night when authorities took a man they described as a person of interest into custody. They have not identified a motive for the attack in Highland Park, an affluent community of about 30,000 people on Chicago’s North Shore.
The July 4th shooting was the latest to disrupt the rituals of American life. Schools, churches, grocery stores, and now public parades have all become killing grounds in recent months. This time, the bloodshed came as the nation tried to find a reason to celebrate its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.
“It definitely hits a lot harder when it’s not only your hometown, but it’s right in front of you,” resident Ron Tuazon said as he and a friend walked back to the parade route Monday night to pick up chairs, blankets and a children’s bicycle that he and his family left behind when the shooting began.
“It’s commonplace now,” Tuazon said. “We don’t blink anymore. Until the laws change, everything will be the same.”
The shooting happened at a spot along the parade route where many residents staked out prime viewing spots early in the day for the annual celebration.
Among them was the family of Nicolas Toledo, who was in his late 70s and visiting from Mexico when he was shot. He died at the scene, his granddaughter, Xochil Toledo, told the Chicago Sun-Times. Also killed was Jackie Sundheim, a lifelong congregant and “beloved” staff member at nearby North Shore Israel Congregation, which announced her death on its website.
Dozens of bullets fired sent hundreds of parade goers – some visibly bloodied – fleeing. They left a trail of abandoned objects that indicated a sudden, violent interruption of daily life: a box of chocolate biscuits spilled on the grass; child’s Chicago Cubs hat; baby carriages, some with American flags and children’s bicycles.
“There is no safe place,” said Highland Park resident Barbara Hart, 73, who did not attend the parade for fear of a mass shooting but later ventured out of her home.
Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said an officer stopped Robert E. Crimo III about 5 miles north of the shooting scene, hours after police released the man’s photo and an image of his silver Honda Fit and warned the public that he is possibly armed and dangerous. Authorities initially said he was 22 years old, but an FBI bulletin and Crimo social media said he was 21 years old.
Police declined to immediately identify Crimo as a suspect, but said identifying him as a person of interest and sharing his name and other information publicly is a big step.
Lake County Major Crimes Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli told a news conference that “several of the deceased victims” died at the scene and one was taken to a hospital where she died.
Police have not released details about the victims, but Toledo’s granddaughter told the Sun-Times that Toledo had lived most of his life in Morelos, Mexico. Xochil Toledo said he remembers looking up at his grandfather as a band walked by and played music.
“He was so happy,” she said. “I’m happy to live in the moment.”
Xochil Toledo said her father tried to protect her grandfather and was shot in the arm; her boyfriend was also shot in the back and taken by someone to a nearby hospital because they weren’t sure there would be enough ambulances for all the victims.
Roberto Velasco, Mexico’s director of North American affairs, said on Twitter that two Mexicans were also injured.
Sundheim has spent decades on the staff of North Shore Congregation Israel, first teaching at the congregation’s preschool and later serving as events and B’nei Mitzvah coordinator, “all with tireless dedication,” the congregation said in a statement announcing her death.
“Jackie’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all,” the statement said.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said the five people killed at the parade were adults, but there was no word on the sixth victim.
NorthShore University Health Center admitted 26 patients after the attack. All but one had gunshot wounds, said Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of the emergency preparedness department. Their ages ranged from 8 to 85, and Temple estimated that four or five were children.
“It is devastating that America’s holiday has been torn apart by our uniquely American plague,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said at a news conference.
“While we only celebrate the Fourth of July once a year, mass shootings have become a weekly — yes, weekly — American tradition.”
Since January, there have been 15 shootings that killed four or more people, including the Highland Park shooting, according to the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Homicide Database.
The gunman opened fire about 10:15 a.m., when the parade was about three-quarters of the way through, authorities said.
Highland Park Police Chief Chris O’Neill, incident commander at the scene, said the gunman apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot on top of 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.
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering told NBC’s “Today” show that she didn’t know where the gun came from, but that it was “legally obtained.”
President Joe Biden on Monday said he and first lady Jill Biden were “shocked by the senseless gun violence that has once again brought grief to the American community this Independence Day.”
In recent days, Biden signed the most sweeping gun violence bill passed by Congress in decades, a compromise that showed both progress on a long-standing issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists.
Crimo, who goes by the name Bobby, was an aspiring rapper under the stage name Awake the Rapper, posting dozens of videos and songs, some gruesome and violent, on social media.
In one animated video, since taken down from YouTube, Crimo raps about armies “walking in the dark,” as a drawing of a man pointing a rifle, a body on the ground, and another figure with arms raised in the distance appears.
In another video, Crimo appears in a classroom wearing a black bicycle helmet. He says, “Everything has led to this. Nothing can stop me, not even myself.”
Crimo’s father, Bob, a longtime deli owner, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Highland Park in 2019, calling himself “a man for the people.”
Highland Park is a tight-knit community on the shores of Lake Michigan, with mansions and sprawling lakeside estates that have long attracted the rich and sometimes famous, including NBA legend Michael Jordan, who lived in town for years when he played for the Chicago Bulls. John Hughes filmed parts of several movies in the city, including “Ferris Bueller’s Off Day,” “Sixteen Candles,” and “Weird Science.”
Gina Troianni and her son were lined up with his kindergarten class, ready to walk down the parade route, when she heard a loud sound that she thought was fireworks — until she heard people yelling for a shooter.
“We just start running in the opposite direction,” she told The Associated Press.
Troyani said she pushed her 5-year-old son’s bike as she ran through the neighborhood to get back to their car.
“It was kind of chaos,” she said. “There were people who separated from their families looking for them. Others just dropped their vans, grabbed their kids and started running.”
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Foody contributed from Chicago. Associated Press writers Mike Balsamo in New York, David Koenig in Dallas, Jeff Martin in Woodstock, Ga., Fabiola Sanchez in Monterrey, Mexico, Jim Mustian in New Orleans, Bernard Condon in New York and Martha Irvine and Mike Householder in Highland Park contributed reporting.
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