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shooting in highland park Disrupted the annual parade shortly after it started at 10 a.m.
Highland Park Police said in a statement that five people died and 19 were taken to hospital. It is not clear whether five of the 19 people admitted to the hospital were dead.
Police said officers were still searching for the suspect and described it as an active incident.
This is a breaking news update. Below is an earlier story from AP.
Officers said Monday that police are responding to a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb. No casualties were officially reported, but eyewitnesses said blood-soaked bodies were covered with blankets as hundreds of people rushed to safety.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade began at around 10 a.m., but was abruptly stopped after 10 minutes of shots fired. A Sun-Times reporter saw blankets on three blood-soaked bodies. Several eyewitnesses told the newspaper that they heard gunshots.
Hundreds of parade-goers – some apparently covered in blood – fled the parade route, leaving behind chairs, baby strollers and blankets.
The police told the people: “Everyone disperse, please. It’s not safe to live here.”
The video, shot after a Sun-Times journalist opened fire, showed the band playing on the float and people running around screaming. A photo posted on social media shows him lying in a pool of blood near upturned chairs in downtown Highland Park.
Gina Troiani and her son were lined up with their daycare class ready to walk the parade route when she heard a loud sound she believed to be fireworks—until she told people about a shooter. Didn’t hear screaming.
“We just start running in the opposite direction,” she told the Associated Press.
Her 5-year-old son was riding his bike adorned with red and blue curved ribbons. He and the other kids in the group had small American flags. The city said on its website that the festivities were to include a children’s bike and pet parade.
Troyani said he pushed his son’s bike, running through the neighborhood to get back to his car.
In the video Troyani shot on his phone, some children are startled by a loud noise and they scramble on the side of the road as sirens sound nearby.
It was just like chaos,” she said. “There were people who were separated from their families, looking for them. Others simply dropped their wagons, grabbed their children and started running. ,
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a tweet that he is “closely monitoring the situation at Highland Park” and that Illinois State Police are assisting. The ISP said in an email that it was assisting with a response to an active shooter, which was reported at around 10:24 p.m.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter that it is assisting Highland Park Police “with a shooting in the area.” Independence day parade route. The sheriff’s office directed an AP reporter to contact Highland Park Police. The police department said no one was immediately available to comment.
Highland Park resident Debbie Glickman said she was on a parade float with colleagues and the group was preparing to head to the main street when she saw people running through the area.
“People started saying: ‘There’s a shooter, there’s a shooter, there’s a shooter,'” Glickman told the Associated Press. “So we just ran. We just ran. It’s like massive chaos out there.”
He didn’t hear any noise or see anyone who was injured.
“I’m so nervous,” she said. “It’s just so sad.”
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