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Police find person of interest in deadly shooting at Chicago-area parade

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HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. -

A gunman on a rooftop opened fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago on Monday, killing at least six people, wounding at least 30 and sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror, police said.

Authorities said a man named as a person of interest in the shooting was taken into police custody Monday evening after an hourslong manhunt in and around Highland Park, an affluent community of about 30,000 on Chicago鈥檚 north shore.

The July 4 shooting was just the latest to shatter the rituals of American life. Schools, churches, grocery stores and now community parades have all become killing grounds in recent months. This time, the bloodshed came as the nation tried to find cause to celebrate its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.

鈥淚t definitely hits a lot harder when it鈥檚 not only your hometown but it鈥檚 also right in front of you,鈥 resident Ron Tuazon said as he and a friend returned to the parade route Monday evening to retrieve chairs, blankets and a child鈥檚 bike that he and his family abandoned when the shooting began.

鈥淚t鈥檚 commonplace now,鈥 Tuazon said of what he called yet another American atrocity. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 blink anymore. Until laws change, it鈥檚 going to be more of the same.鈥

The shooting occurred at a spot on the parade route where many residents had staked out prime viewing points early in the day for the annual celebration. Dozens of fired bullets sent hundreds of parade-goers 鈥 some visibly bloodied 鈥 fleeing. They left a trail of abandoned items that showed everyday life suddenly, violently disrupted: A half-eaten bag of potato chips; a box of chocolate cookies spilled onto the grass; a child鈥檚 Chicago Cubs cap.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no safe place,鈥 said Highland Park resident Barbara Harte, 73, who had stayed away from the parade fearing a mass shooting, but later ventured from her home.

This undated handout photo provided by the City of Highland Park Police Department shows Robert (Bobby) E. Crimo III. Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said, July 4, 2022, that police have identified 22-year-old Crimo as a person of interest in an Independence Day parade shooting in suburban Chicago. (City of Highland Park Police Department via AP)

Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said a police officer pulled over Robert E. Crimo III about five miles north of the shooting scene, several hours after police released the man's photo and an image of his silver Honda Fit, and warned the public that he was likely armed and dangerous. Authorities initially said he was 22, but an FBI bulletin and Crimo's social media said he was 21.

Police declined to immediately identify Crimo as a suspect but said identifying him as a person of interest, sharing his name and other information publicly was a serious step.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference 鈥渟everal of the deceased victims鈥 died at the scene and one was taken to a hospital and died there. Police have not released details about the victims or wounded.

Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said the five people killed at the parade were adults, but didn鈥檛 have information on the sixth victim who was taken to a hospital and died there. One of those killed was a Mexican national, Roberto Velasco, Mexico鈥檚 director for North American affairs, . He said two other Mexicans were wounded.

NorthShore University Health Center received 26 patients after the attack. All but one had gunshot wounds, said Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of emergency preparedness. Their ages ranged from 8 to 85, and Temple estimated that four or five patients were children.

Temple said 19 of them were treated and discharged. Others were transferred to other hospitals, while two patients, in stable condition, remained at the Highland Park hospital.

鈥淚t is devastating that a celebration of America was ripped apart by our uniquely American plague,鈥 Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a news conference.

鈥淚鈥檓 furious because it does not have to be this way... while we celebrate the Fourth of July just once a year, mass shootings have become a weekly 鈥 yes, weekly 鈥 American tradition.鈥

The shooter opened fire around 10:15 a.m., when the parade was about three-quarters through, authorities said.

Highland Park Police Commander Chris O鈥橬eill, the incident commander on scene, said the gunman apparently used a 鈥渉igh-powered rifle鈥 to fire from a spot atop a commercial building where he was 鈥渧ery difficult to see.鈥 He said the rifle was recovered at the scene. Police also found a ladder attached to the building.

鈥淰ery random, very intentional and a very sad day,鈥 Covelli said.

on Monday said he and first lady Jill Biden were 鈥渟hocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day.鈥

Biden signed the widest-ranging gun violence bill passed by Congress in decades, a compromise that showed at once both progress on a long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists.

As a word of an arrest spread, residents who had hunkered in homes began venturing outside, some walking toward where the shooting occurred. Several people stood and stared at the scene, with abandoned picnic blankets, hundreds of lawn chairs and backpacks still where they were when the shooting began.

Police believe there was only one shooter but warned that he should still be considered armed and dangerous. Several nearby cities cancelled events including parades and fireworks, some of them noting that the Highland Park shooter was still at large. The Chicago White Sox also announced on Twitter that a is cancelled due to the shooting.

More than 100 law enforcement officers were called to the parade scene or dispatched to find the suspected shooter.

More than a dozen police officers on Monday surrounded a home listed as an address for Crimo in Highland Park. Some officers held rifles as they fixed their eyes on the home. Police blockaded roads leading to the home in a tree-lined neighbourhood near a golf course, allowing only select law enforcement cars through a tight outer perimeter.

Crimo, who goes by the name Bobby, was an aspiring rapper with the stage name Awake the Rapper, posting on social media dozens videos and songs, some ominous and violent.

In one animated video since taken down by YouTube, Crimo raps about armies 鈥渨alking in darkness鈥 as a drawing appears of a man pointing a rifle, a body on the ground and another figure with hands up in the distance. A later frame shows a close-up of a chest with blood pouring out and another of police cars arriving as the shooter holds his hands up.

In another video, in which Crimo appears in a classroom wearing a black bicycle helmet, he says he is 鈥渓ike a sleepwalker鈥 I know what I have to do,鈥 then adds, "Everything has led up to this. Nothing can stop me, even myself.鈥

Crimo鈥檚 father, Bob, a longtime deli owner, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Highland Park in 2019, calling himself 鈥渁 person for the people.鈥

Highland Park is a close-knit community of about 30,000 people located on the shores of Lake Michigan just north of Chicago, with mansions and sprawling lakeside estates that have long drawn the rich and sometimes famous, including NBA legend Michael Jordan, who lived in the city for years when he played for the Chicago Bulls. John Hughes filmed parts of several movies in the city, including 鈥淔erris Bueller鈥檚 Day Off,鈥 鈥淪ixteen Candles鈥 and 鈥淲eird Science.鈥

Ominous signs of a joyous event suddenly turned to horror filled both sides of Central Avenue where the shooting occurred. Dozens of baby strollers 鈥 some bearing American flags, abandoned children鈥檚 bikes and a helmet bedecked with images of Cinderella were left behind. Blankets, lawn chairs, coffees and water bottles were knocked over as people fled.

Gina Troiani and her son were lined up with his daycare class ready to walk onto the parade route when she heard a loud sound that she believed was fireworks 鈥 until she heard people yell about a shooter. In a video that Troiani shot on her phone, some of the kids are visibly startled at the loud noise, and they scramble to the side of the road as a siren wails nearby.

鈥淲e just start running in the opposite direction,鈥 she told The Associated Press.

Her 5-year-old son was riding his bike decorated with red and blue curled ribbons. He and other children in the group held small American flags. The city said on its website that the festivities were to include a children鈥檚 bike and pet parade.

Troiani said she pushed her son鈥檚 bike, running through the neighbourhood to get back to their car.

"It was just sort of chaos,鈥 she said. 鈥淭here were people that got separated from their families, looking for them. Others just dropped their wagons, grabbed their kids and started running.鈥

Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with coworkers and the group was preparing to turn onto the main route when she saw people running from the area.

鈥淧eople started saying: 鈥楾here鈥檚 a shooter, there鈥檚 a shooter, there's a shooter,鈥欌 Glickman told the AP. 鈥淪o we just ran. We just ran. It鈥檚 like mass chaos down there.鈥

She didn鈥檛 hear any noises or see anyone who appeared to be injured.

鈥淚鈥檓 so freaked out,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just so sad.鈥

___

Foody contributed from Chicago. Associated Press writers Mike Balsamo in New York, David Koenig in Dallas, Jeff Martin in Woodstock, Georgia, Fabiola S谩nchez in Monterrey, Mexico, Jim Mustian in New Orleans, Bernard Condon in New York, and Martha Irvine and Mike Householder in Highland Park contributed reporting.

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