Highland Park community in ‘unbelievable shock’ after deadly July 4 shooting

The Chicago suburb of Highland Park was reeling on Tuesday morning, the day after a gunman rained down gunfire from a rooftop overlooking a Fourth of July parade.

The Chicago suburb of Highland Park was reeling on Tuesday morning, the day after a gunman rained down gunfire from a rooftop overlooking a Fourth of July parade, killing six people and wounding dozens more in the latest outburst of mass gun violence in the United States.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering told NBC News of the “unbelievable sadness” and “unbelievable shock” that the community of 30,000 was encountering.

“This tragedy should have never arrived at our doorsteps,” she said. “As a small town, everybody knows somebody who was effected by this directly and, of course, we are all still reeling.”

Just a day prior, the streets were decked out in red, white and blue as families watched the annual parade. Children sat on curbs, wagons and strollers waving American flags as parents and grandparents relaxed in their folding chairs.

As the parade began rolling through downtown, police said a gunman climbed to the roof of a business using a ladder in an alley and then, without notice, opened fire with an assault rifle at the crowd below.

On Monday evening, police announced that they had a suspect, 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III, in custody after he surrendered to authorities. Police said they did not know what the motive was for the shooting.

A retired four-star general, who wished not to be named, was in the crowd when the gunfire began. He told Reuters he scooped up one of his granddaughters and sprinted for safety to the Sunset Foods grocery store across the street when the shooting began.

“They were scared to death, they didn’t know what was going on,” he said as he was brought to tears. “I had her up against my chest and she told my daughter later on ‘Grandpa’s heart was pounding.’”