Highland Park, a suburb of Illinois, is in chaos after yet another mass shooting in America. This time it happened at a celebration celebrating America’s birthday. A shooter with a high powered rifle shot at six people killing seven and wounding more than 30 others including children.
Officials said the death toll rose to seven Tuesday night after a victim who was in a hospital died. Five people died Monday on the parade route, while a sixth victim was taken to a nearby hospital.
Parade-goers initially believed the shots were fireworks. Witnesses say that people started to fall from the street in bloody heaps, and that a stampede broke out.
Great-grandfather Nicolas Toledo, 76, was sitting in his wheelchair with his family when the shooting started. According to his family, a relative tried protecting him, but he was killed on the street. Toledo, who held dual citizenship, lived most of his adult life in Mexico and had just returned home to Highland Park with his family.
“It’s an enormous pain,” his granddaughter, Alba Toledo, 23, told USA Today.“Believe me, my grandfather was a great person, with an enormous heart.”
Their family claims that a preschool teacher and her husband were gunned down in front their children. Her father, Stephen Kolpack, Zoe Kolpack, and her brother were all wounded when the gunman opened firing. A GoFundMe campaignhas been established to help with medical costs.
“They are all in the hospital undergoing various surgeries, which will seriously impact these families financially,”The organizer wrote. “I do not want this to be another burden on them as they will have many obstacles to go through in the months ahead.”
A total of 26 patients ranging in age from 8 to 85 were taken to Highland Park Hospital, said Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of the NorthShore University Health System. He said that at least four of them were children.
More than 30 people were injured, police said, including at least one child who was in critical condition, said Highland Park Fire Chief Joe Schrage.
Nineteen patients were released from treatment.
Robert was identified as such by the authorities “Bobby”E. Crimo III is the suspected shooter. On Monday, the 21-year old was identified for the first time as a person-of-interest.
Crimo was armed with a high-powered rifle and climbed a fire escape ladder up to the roof of the business. He then fired on the crowd below, according to Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli. He fired more than 70 rounds before climbing down and blending into those on the street by wearing women’s clothing and fleeing in the chaos, Covelli said.
Covelli claimed that Crimo borrowed his mother’s car and went to her house after the shootings. He said that a citizen called 911 to report the sighting of Crimo driving a Honda. Covelli reported that Crimo had been taken into custody Monday night without incident.
Officials say he will be charged with the shootings on Tuesday.
The suspected gunman is an aspirant rapper who calls himself “The Gunman” “Awake the Rapper”Officials said that the suspect had uploaded music videos to social media platforms. Authorities said that some of the videos contained bloody violence, including an image with an automatic rifle and a stick man.
The postings “reflected a plan and a desire to commit carnage for a long time in advance,” Mayor Nancy Rotering said in an interview Tuesday with NBC’s “Today” show.
“And it’s one of those things where you step back and you say, what happened?”She spoke. “How did somebody become this angry and hateful to then take it out on innocent people who literally were just having a family day out?”
She claimed she had known the suspect since she was his Cub Scout leader.
“Many years ago, he was just a little boy, a quiet little boy that I knew,”CNN was informed by her. The mayor said his mug shot, showing him with multiple tattoos, was particularly haunting.
“It breaks my heart. I see this picture and through the tattoos, I see the little boy,”She spoke. “I don’t know what got him to this point.”
The mayor stated that the suspect had legally purchased the rifle in Illinois. However such weapons are illegal within the city.
“I’m furious because it does not have to be this way,” said Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker at a Monday press conference, as officials called for tougher gun control laws. President Joe Biden joined that chorus, saying, “I won’t give up on fighting the epidemic of gun violence.” in a White House statement.
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet was attending the parade with her family on her day off. She later filed a story about what she saw.
“I was just going to the parade to have fun. Spend time with friends. Perhaps you can go to the North Shore suburb’s beautiful beaches and enjoy the parade. Perhaps you want to take a dip in the Highland Park pool right next to the fire department. That fire station transformed into an emergency operations center after the unimaginable — is this a cliché? — happened.
“In a matter of seconds, a sniper — using a high-powered, rapid-fire weapon —Six people were killed, and many others were wounded.as the parade made its way down Central Avenue in downtown Highland Park,” Sweet wrote.
Paul A. Crimo the uncle of the suspect said that he was “heartbroken”It was his nephew who was suspected in the fatal attack. “There were no signs that I saw that would make him do this,”He spoke to CNN.
The uncle said that the young man lived in an apartment located behind his father’s home in Highwood. He claimed that he last saw his nephew Sunday evening. He was sitting in a recliner at home and was engrossed on his computer.
“Everything was as normal,”He told the cable network.
Monday’s shooting carnage followed high-profile mass shootings in New York and Texas, and as outrage built over the police killing of 25-year-old Jayland Walker in Akron, Ohio, last week.
Highland Park’s massacre wasn’t the only violent July 4th celebration.
Two police officers in Philadelphia were killed by gunfire at the Independence Day celebration. After loud pops ricocheted through the crowd, many fled for their safety.
Authorities stated that they have not identified any suspects in this case.