xi's moments
Home | Americas

Gunman kills six at parade in US; suspect arrested

By LIA ZHU in San Francisco | China Daily | Updated: 2022-07-06 07:50

Law enforcement officers escort a family away from the scene of a mass shooting where six people were killed and more than 25 injured during a Fourth of July parade on Monday in Highland Park, Illinois, in the United States. MARK BORENSTEIN/GETTY IMAGES/AFP

The United States was caught up in bloodshed again on Monday, when the latest in a series of mass shootings clouded the nation's Fourth of July observance.

A gunman on a rooftop killed at least six people and wounded more than 25 after opening fire on a holiday parade in the state of Illinois.

The shooting occurred around 10:15 am, more than halfway through the parade in downtown Highland Park, which is about 40 kilometers north of Chicago, said authorities.

A suspect was arrested on Monday afternoon following a massive manhunt, police said. He was identified by police as 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III.

Among the victims, five died at the scene of the shooting and another died later at a hospital.

The five who died at the scene were all adults, said Jennifer Banek, the Lake County coroner, but she didn't have information on the sixth person who died.

Following the attack, Northshore Highland Park Hospital said in a statement that it had received 26 people ranging in age from 8 to 85.

Authorities did not immediately release information on any of the victims. However, Roberto Velasco, Mexico's director for North American affairs, said on Twitter that one Mexican national was killed in the shooting and two other Mexicans were wounded.

Celebrations, including parades and fireworks, were called off in several nearby cities amid fears of more violence.

In a speech on Monday evening, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker addressed the Highland Park community, saying "there are no words "to describe the loss and grief of the families of those killed and injured during the parade.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Monday that he and first lady Jill Biden were "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day".

Monday's shooting was among more than 300 mass shootings in the US this year, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks such incidents.

In recent months, 10 people were killed and three wounded when a white man opened fire at a grocery store in a predominantly black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, in May. In Uvalde, Texas, 19 children and two adults were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in June.

On Monday night, two police officers were shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during a Fourth of July fireworks show and a manhunt was underway.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.

Global Edition
BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349