HIGHLAND PARK, Ill., – A gunman perched on a rooftop opened fire on families waving flags and children riding bikes at a Fourth of July parade on Monday, killing six and wounding more than 36 in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.
The gunman climbed to the roof of a business using a ladder in an alley, police said. The attack turned a civic display of patriotism into a scene of mayhem.
Hours later, police announced that they had a suspect in custody after 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III surrendered to authorities.
The main street in Highland Park became a crime scene spanning blocks, strewn with abandoned chairs and flags.
Witnesses who later came back to retrieve strollers and other items were told they could not go beyond police tape.
“It sounded like fireworks going off,” said retired doctor Richard Kaufman, who was standing across the street from where the gunman opened fire, adding that he heard about 200 shots.
It was pandemonium,” he said. “People were covered in blood tripping over each other.”
The shooting comes with gun violence fresh on the minds of many Americans.
Just hours after the shooting in Highland Park, two Philadelphia police offers were shot near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as thousands of people celebrated a Fourth of July concert and fireworks show. Both officers were later released from hospital.
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