Home Scandal and Gossip Chicago parade shooting leaves 6 dead, 24 injured as cops hunt gunman

Chicago parade shooting leaves 6 dead, 24 injured as cops hunt gunman

Christopher Koulouris: About author bio at bottom of article.
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Highland Park parade shooting Chicago
Highland Park parade shooting in Chicago leaves 6 dead, manhunt for 18-20yr old suspect gunman. Images via screengrab.
Highland Park parade shooting Chicago
Highland Park parade shooting in Chicago leaves 6 dead, manhunt for 18-20yr old suspect gunman. Image via screengrab.

Highland Park parade shooting in Chicago leaves 6 dead, 24 injured as cops hunt white gunman between ages of 18-20, who fled scene. No known motive. 

So much for Independence Day. A gunman has caused havoc during a Chicago 4th of July parade in the affluent suburb of Highland Park after firing from a store roof and killing no less than six and wounding 24 people before fleeing the scene.

The gunman, described by police as being white, of slight build, with long black hair and between 18-20 years old, is said to have opened fire from the roof of what was an outdoor outfitting store, picking off people in the crowd who at first confused the sound of gunshots with Independence Day fireworks.

The gunman, wearing a white or a blue t-shirt, is thought to have used a rifle in the attack, which began Monday morning, circa 10.15am. Of note, police recovered a gun at the scene, with the suspect considered armed and dangerous. 

Latest reports also told of the gunman wearing an army-style yellow backpack.

The mass shooting began just on 20 minutes after the start of the parade the Chicago Sun Times reported. Latest reports indicated the suspect sighted at Central station and barricading inside of a Sunset Foods grocery nearby with hostages. Social media had yet to verify whether the gunman was in fact holding hostages. 

Highland Park parade gunman id as 22 yr old still on the loose

20-30 gunshots

The picking off of people left a bloodbath of bodies on the ground, with harrowing images since shared on social media.

Witness, Miles Zaremski described hearing what he believed to be about 20 to 30 gunshots, in two consecutive spurts of gunfire, at about 10:20 a.m. CT, 20 minutes after the start of the parade.

‘I saw multiple lifeless bodies, people in a pool of blood,’ Zaremski told CNN. 

‘It is sickening. If this can happen here in our suburb it can happen anywhere,’ he added, a reference to the quiet suburb’s low-crime, the local Highland Park resident said. 

Adding, ‘I have never seen this and I’d hope no American would ever see this. I saw 12 to 24 injuries.

‘I saw a couple of lifeless bodies on the ground.’ 

Present during the parades were young families and children, who are now feared to be among the dead and injured.

Violent crime unheard of in affluent suburb

To date, none of the victims had been named, nor how old they were.   

‘People started saying `There’s a shooter, there’s a shooter, there is a shooter”‘ Highland Park resident, Debbie Glickman told AP.  

‘So we just ran. We just ran. It’s like mass chaos down there. I’m so freaked out,’ she said. 

‘We can’t believe this happened in our little town.’ 

The July 4th parade was expected to feature floats, marching bands, novelty groups, community entries and other special entertainment, the city said on its website.

Highland Park is renowned for being one of Chicago’s most affluent suburbs. It is among a cluster of wealthy suburbs along the North Shore next to Lake Michigan. 

Unlike Chicago, which has one of the worst gun violence records in the country, violent crime in Highland Park is almost unheard of.  

The average price of a home in Highland Park was $714,000 in April 2022 and the city has a population of around 30,000 with a per capita income of about $90,000, nearly triple the US average, according to US Census data.

Authorities declined to offer a motive as to Monday’s 4th of July shooting as police frantically seek to locate the gunman. 

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