Bystanders flee after hearing shots fired at Illinois 4th of July parade
At least six people were killed and 36 wounded in a mass shooting at an Illinois Independence Day parade on Monday after a gunman on a rooftop opened fire, sending hundreds fleeing in terror.
Hours later, police announced they had arrested a 22-year-old man named Robert E Crimo as a person of interest.
Robert E Crimo is listed as a person of interest in the July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park
(City of Highland Park)
“It sounded like fireworks going off,” said witness Richard Kaufman. “It was pandemonium. People were covered in blood, tripping over each other.
While “several of the deceased victims” died at the scene, one died of her injuries at the hospital, according to authorities.
One of those killed was Mexican, Roberto Velasco, Mexico’s director of North American affairs, said on Twitter. He added that two other Mexicans were injured in the incident.
About 26 of the injured, aged between eight and 85, were taken to NorthShore University Health Center. All but one had gunshot wounds, said the hospital’s emergency medical director, Dr. Brigham Temple.
Key points
Show latest update 1657029347
The number of people injured in the Highland Park shooting rises to 38
The number of people injured in a shooting during Monday’s Independence Day parade in Highland Park has reached 38, NBC 5 News reported.
NorthShore University Health System confirmed to the news outlet early Tuesday morning that 38 people were being treated at the facility after the attack, without specifying how many were suffering from gunshot wounds.
As of Tuesday morning, the health facility confirmed that there are eight patients still receiving treatment for injuries they sustained during the brazen attack.
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 at 2:55 pm
1657028338
The mayor of Highland Park knew Robert Crimeau from when he was his scoutmaster
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering told NBC’s Today that she was familiar with Robert Crimo, the 22-year-old arrested by police as a person of interest in Monday’s fatal shooting, because she served as a Cub Scout leader when he was enrolled as a Cub Scout.
“I know him as someone who was a Cub Scout when I was a Cub Scout leader,” Ms. Rotering said. “And it’s one of those things where you step back and say, ‘What happened?’ How could someone become so angry, so hateful, that they would then take this out on innocent people who were literally just having a family day out ?”
Ms. Rotering said she was not aware if the man she knew as a small child was known to police before the Independence Day attack and told NBC’s Hoda Kotb on Tuesday that there were few details about Mr. – n Crimo.
“He was just a little boy,” she said.
Watch the full clip below:
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 at 2:38 pm
1657028147
Adam Kinzinger says “MAGA like MTG are just heartless” in response to Highland Park’s tweet
Representative Adam Kinzinger urged far-right politicians who embrace moments like mass shootings to address issues other than gun control, no matter how far-fetched they may be.
After information about Robert Crimo, a person of interest in the Highland Park shooting who was arrested by officers after hours of manhunt across the city, was shared on social media, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green re-shared a screenshot of the wanted notice from the FBI 22- annual and denounced the country’s crisis of “drug abuse, mental illness, and SSRIs,” without any informational support that Mr. Crimo suffered from any of the aforementioned.
“When are we going to have an honest conversation about drug abuse, mental illness and SSRIs???” the Georgia Republican lawmaker tweeted. “Are we really going to keep pretending? Or covering Big Pharma? Because I am completely done with the political plays of this BS.”
Representative Kinzinger, a Republican lawmaker from Illinois whose district includes Rockford, an area with which Mr. Crimo is said to have ties, responded to Ms. Green’s tweet, calling her and fellow MAGA members “heartless.”
“Instead of having an ounce of compassion, this is cold-blooded madness,” the Illinois congressman tweeted. “I am completely done with this evil movement.”
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 2:35 pm
1657027187
Street closures are still in place, police warn
Police are advising residents in the Highland Park area to continue to avoid the region where the July 4 fatal shooting took place, NBC 5 News reports.
Authorities in the Illinois city are still investigating around the blocks where the fatal shooting took place and are urging people to stay away from the area.
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 at 2:19 pm
1657026467
Chicago mayor calls for ‘federal effort’ to get ‘weapons of war’ off hands
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a statement after the deadly July 4 shooting that happened 27 miles north of her city over the holiday weekend, calling for a “federal effort” to stop the spate of mass shootings that continue to roil America’s communities .
“Gun violence does not respect geographic boundaries or socioeconomic differences,” the mayor began. “Whether it’s in the backyards of Englewood, West Garfield Park, Uvalde, Buffalo or now Highland Park, none of us are immune and all are vulnerable without federal efforts to take weapons of war out of civilian hands.”
Chicago’s mayor is struggling to contain the growing problem of gun violence in his own city and responded last month by increasing the curfew from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. for youths under 18 instead of 17.
This attempt to curb the rise in youth gun violence was coupled with a weekend ban on unaccompanied minors in Millennium Park, which begins at 6pm every Thursday and runs through Sunday.
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 2:07 pm
1657025147
Robert Crimo: Highland Park shooter identified, all we know
Mr Crimo was taken into custody after a short chase near Lake Forest, a suburb of Chicago, about six miles from the scene of the massacre, several hours after a high-powered rifle was fired into a crowd of people enjoying the holiday.
The gunman appeared to have taken up a sniper position on a rooftop before opening fire and causing scenes of chaos as people ran for cover for their lives.
Continue reading to learn more about who Mr. Crimo is and what his family is saying about his arrest:
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 1:45 pm
1657024231
The Trump-backed Illinois candidate says “let’s move on” just hours after the shooting
Hours after a mass shooting at a July 4th parade in Illinois left six people dead and dozens more injured, state Sen. Darren Bailey urged Americans to go ahead and celebrate.
The Republican lawmaker said in a statement, “Let’s move forward and celebrate the independence of this nation,” The Daily Beast reported.
“We must drive corruption and evil out of our government.”
Mr. Bailey is endorsed by former President Donald Trump in the Illinois governor’s race.
My colleague Sravasti Dasgupta reports:
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 1:30 pm
1657022946
Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent about Highland Park’s vending machine ban nearly a decade ago
An ordinance signed by Mayor Nancy Rothering on June 24, 2013, states: “The City Council has determined that assault weapons are not traditionally used for self-defense in the City of Highland Park and that such weapons pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.”
Mr. Thomas, in his 2015 dissent, when the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the ordinance, said it “criminalizes modern sporting rifles (eg, semi-automatic AR-style rifles) that many Americans own for legitimate purposes such as self-defense , hunting and target shooting.’
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 1:09 pm
1657021746
Video: The moment Robert Crimo was arrested by Chicago officers
On Monday night, after an hours-long city-wide manhunt, Chicago police confirmed that 22-year-old Robert Crimo had been arrested without incident as a person of interest.
Video obtained by ABC 7’s Tre Ward in Chicago shows the moment police cars raced down a highway to arrest the 22-year-old in Lake Forest.
“He was arrested near US Highway 41 & Wesley Road in Lake Forest at the time these police units fled from where we are stopped in Highland Park. Was initially spotted on Buckley Road & 41 in North Chicago and a short pursuit ensued,” Mr. Ward tweeted while sharing a thread about the Crimo arrest.
Watch the full clip below:
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 12:49 pm
1657020666
Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois: Last time I heard a weapon of that capacity fired ‘was Iraq’
Shortly after a gunman opened fire during a July 4th parade that left at least six dead and 36 injured, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Senator Tammy Duckworth spoke at a news conference to address the stunning mass shooting that causing hundreds of parade goers to run for their lives.
In one of the more poignant moments of Senator Duckworth’s speech, who is a veteran and lost both her legs after her helicopter was shot down during her deployment to Iraq in 2004, she highlighted the horrifying irony she felt as she listened to the gunfire on the parade shooting videos in suburban Chicago and compared them to those she had heard while fighting overseas.
“I was just listening to the sound of this gunshot from one of the videos that was taken. And let me tell you, the last time I heard a weapon of that capacity firing that fast on the Fourth of July was in Iraq,” Senator Duckworth said.
“This was not the United States of America. We can, must and will do better.”
Johanna Chisholm July 5, 2022 at 12:31 pm
Add Comment