At least 6 people killed at 4th of July parade near Chicago, a gunman in general

At least six people have been killed and two dozen hospitalized after a rooftop gunman opened fire at a July 4 parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland, officials said. know. The shooting caused the marching audience to scramble for cover.

Local police said they were working with state and federal law enforcement officials to track down the suspect, described at Monday’s news conference as a white male, aged 18-20. age, small build and long, dark hair.

The five people who died at the scene were adults, police said at a news conference Monday afternoon. They said a sixth person who died was taken to hospital without providing details about the person’s age.

An official at the conference said at least one person taken to the hospital was a child.

President Joe Biden said he spoke to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering and offered federal assistance.

“Jill and I are shocked by the senseless gun violence that once again grieves the American community on this Independence Day,” Biden said in a written statement.

The shooting happened just days after Congress passed the most important decades of gun control reform bill.

“I recently signed the first major bipartisan gun reform bill in nearly 30 years, which includes actions that will save lives,” Biden said. “But there’s more work to be done, and I won’t give up fighting the gun violence pandemic.”

The Highland Park shooting comes less than two months after a lone gunman opened fire on 10 Black shoppers at a Buffalo, NY grocery store and another killed 19 children and two teacher at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Police said on Monday that a “large capacity” rifle was recovered from the Highland Park scene and urged people to stay indoors while law enforcement searches for the gunman.

Police urged anyone with video from the parade to share it with law enforcement.

Larry Bloom, who was in the area when the shooting began, told NBC Chicago that the audience initially thought the “pop” sound was part of the parade.

“You sound like ‘pop, pop, pop,’ and I think everyone thought maybe it was the display on one of the floats and then it opened up,” Bloom said.

The shooting happened on the Independence Day parade route. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Twitter urged people to stay away from the area to “allow law enforcement and first responders to do their job.”

“This morning at 10:14 a.m. our community was terrorized by an act of violence that has shaken us,” Highland Mayor Park Rotering, said at a news conference. “On a day when we come together to celebrate community and freedom, we are instead mourning … the tragic loss of lives and grappling with the horrors inflicted on them. I.”

4th of July events in other Chicago suburbs – EvanstonDeerfield and Skokie – were suspended following the Highland Park shooting, NBC News reported.

–Reuters contributed to this report.