The police chief of Highland Park says he has arrested a 22-year-old man who was a person of interest in the shooting that killed at least six people, hurt at least 30, and sent hundreds of people running from an Independence Day parade. After a short chase, police pulled over Robert E. Crimo III on Monday night.
On Monday, a gunman on a roof in a Chicago suburb opened fire on an Independence Day parade, killing at least six people and hurting at least 30 others. Authorities spent hours looking around the neighbourhood and surrounded a house that was thought to be his home.
Police Chief Lou Jogmen of Highland Park said that 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III was armed and dangerous. How did police identify Crimo? The number DM 80653 is the Illinois licence plate for his silver Honda Fit. The shooting on July 4 changed the way Americans do things. Schools, churches, grocery stores, and even community parades are all places where people are being killed. This time, the country was trying to remember where it came from and who it is with.
The incident happened in a place where people had claimed good spots to watch the annual procession. Hundreds of people at the parade ran away from the gunfire, some of them with cuts. Things they left behind show how violently their lives were turned upside down: a half-eaten bag of chips, a package of cookies, and a child’s Cubs cap. Barbara Harte, 73, didn’t go to the march because she was afraid of a mass shooting, but she ended up going.
Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, said that several people died at the scene and one person died in the hospital. Police haven’t said anything about who was hurt or who died. Jennifer Banek, the Lake County Coroner, said that five of the parade victims were adults, but she didn’t know about the sixth. Roberto Velasco, who is in charge of Mexico’s relations with North America, said that one of the people who died was Mexican. He said that two Mexicans were hurt.
The NorthShore University Health Center cared for 26 people who were hurt. Dr. Brigham Temple said that all but one of them had been shot. Temple says that four or five of the patients were children.
Temple said that 19 people were treated and sent home. Two patients who were doing well stayed at Highland Park hospital while others were moved. Authorities say the shooter opened fire at 10:15 a.m., when the march was about three-quarters over.
Chris O’Neill, who is in charge of police in Highland Park, said that the shooter fired from a “hard-to-see” spot on top of a business building. He said that the gun was found. There was also a ladder. Covelli said that day was “random, planned, and sad.”
Joe Biden said that he and his wife, Jill Biden, were “struck by the senseless gun violence” on July 4. He asked federal police to help find the shooter, who was still on the loose.
Biden signed the broadest gun violence law that Congress has passed in decades. This deal showed both progress on an issue that had been hard to solve for a long time and a split between the parties. One shooter, police say. Some of the nearby cities cancelled parades and fireworks because they didn’t know where the Highland Park shooter was. Event cancellations were made in Evanston, Skokie, Waukegan, and Glencoe. The Chicago White Sox tweeted that a fireworks show after the game will not happen. To find the shooter, more than 100 police officers were sent to the parade.
Monday night, more than a dozen police officers surrounded Crimo’s house in Highland Park. The police pointed their guns at the house. A truck with the words “Police Rescue Vehicle” on it was parked near the house. Police blocked the roads that led to the property, which was surrounded by trees and near a golf club. Only a few cars were allowed through a tight perimeter.