United States: at least 6 dead and 24 injured in a shooting during a July 4th parade

Published on: 04/07/2022 – 20:33 At least six people were killed and 24 injured in a shooting on Monday during a parade organized on the occasion of the American national holiday in a suburb of Chicago, announced the local authorities. A shooting left six dead and 24 injured Monday, July 4, near Chicago, in the northern United States, during an American Independence Day parade, according to the police. “As we gathered to celebrate our freedom, we must mourn the tragic loss of life and overcome our terror,” city mayor Nancy Rotering lamented at a press conference. “As of now, we know that at least six people are dead” and “that 24 have been taken to hospital”, she added, calling on her fellow citizens to remain “alert but calm”. firearm has been found”, announced the municipality of Highland Park, a wealthy city north of Chicago where the shooting broke out, on its website. The suspect, described by police as a white male between the ages of 18 and 20, is on the run and “considered armed and dangerous”. The suspect has not been identified. He has ‘long black hair and a white or blue t-shirt,’ local police chief Chris O’Neill said. Hundreds of officers were deployed to apprehend the suspect and come to the aid of the community . In footage of the city broadcast on television channels, law enforcement can be seen driving through empty streets, where the sidewalks are covered with abandoned camping chairs in a panic. “Panic throughout the city” The gunfire broke out as hundreds of people gathered to watch the traditional July 4 parade, which celebrates the declaration of independence of the United States in 1776. A witness, quoted by the local channel WGN, reported seeing a man armed with a rifle open fire in the direction of the public. “He was on the ground and was crawling in a methodical, almost military way,” commented this man named Michael. The crowd fell to the ground and ran as pools of blood formed, he said. Adrienne Drell was watching a high school marching band when a man sounded the alarm . “It was panic all over the city,” she told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We are totally stunned.” The parade was immediately suspended and festivities were canceled in several nearby towns. The United States is still reeling from a series of shootings, including one at an elementary school in Uvalde in Texas on May 24 had killed 21 people, including 19 children. The country is more generally facing an increase in gun violence with more than 22,000 people killed since the start of the year, according to the site Gun Violence Archive, which incorporates suicides into its data. With AFP and Reuters