Multiple people have been shot and at least one is feared dead after a gunman opened fire on a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. The gunman is still at large.
Amateur videos captured the moment shots rang out, which sent people scattering in different directions. Witnesses have reported a barrage of shots, then a pause followed by another barrage.
CBS Chicago digital producer Elyssa Kaufman, who was watching the parade, heard what sounded like gunshots a little after the parade started at 10 a.m. local time. “Everyone was running, hiding and screaming,” Kaufman said. “It was extremely terrifying. It was very scary. We are very fortunate, we got out very quickly.”
🚨#BREAKING: Footage from the #Highland park parade shooting. pic.twitter.com/PvkDfqvpoj
— World Source News 24/7 (@Worldsource24) July 4, 2022
Some witnesses have reported up to 20 shots, according to CBS Chicago. Preliminary reports have counted at least one shot and one likely fatality, the outlet further reported.
Congressman Brad Schneider and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering have also told reporters they believe at least one person was fatally shot.
Peter Kotonis of Highland Park was driving to the parade to meet his family and was approaching the parade route when he saw hundreds of people running.
“It was chaotic. At that point I started calling my family to try to find them and eventually found out they had sheltered inside a building near the route,” Kotonis told The Chicago Tribune. “And so I met up with some of my friends, we picked up some people we knew, because we wanted to make sure they had a ride, and we got out of there.”
One reporter claimed that the gunman was barricaded inside the Sunset Foods grocery store with hostages. Dan Ponce of WGN Morning News has reported that there is no police presence outside the store, however.
This is a developing story.