July Fourth celebrations in Highland Park, Illinois, end in terror after mass shooting leaves 6 dead and dozens injured
CNN
A day of national celebration turned to tragedy Monday when a gunman killed six people and injured dozens of others at a July Fourth parade in Highland Park, Illinois -- leaving the nation grieving yet another mass shooting.
The suspected shooter, identified by authorities as Robert E. Crimo III, used a "high-powered rifle" in an attack that appeared to be "random" and "intentional," police said. They believe the shooter, who was apprehended later Monday, climbed onto a rooftop of a business and opened fire on the parade about 20 minutes after it started.
Bystanders initially thought the sound of gunfire that pierced the sunny parade just after 10 a.m. CT along the town's Central Avenue, about 25 miles north of Chicago, was fireworks, until hundreds of attendees started to flee in terror -- abandoning strollers, chairs and American-flag paraphernalia strewn on the streets.