A gunman opened fire from a rooftop on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago, killing at least six people, wounding at least 30 and sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror. Robert E. Crimo III, 21, was taken into custody as a person of interest in the shooting was taken into police custody Monday after a manhunt in Highland Park, an affluent community of 30,000 on Chicago’s north shore, the Associated Press reports. The shooting occurred where residents had staked out prime viewing points early in the day for the annual celebration. Dozens of bullets sent hundreds of parade-goers fleeing. The city's mayor said the gunman obtained his weapon legally, USA Today reports.
“There’s no safe place,” said Barbara Harte, 73, who had stayed away from the parade fearing a mass shooting, but later ventured from her home. Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said an officer pulled Crimo over five miles north of the shooting scene, several hours after police released the man’s photo and an image of his silver Honda Fit. NorthShore University Health Center received 26 patients after the attack. Police Commander Chris O’Neill, said the gunman apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot atop a commercial building where he was “very difficult to see.” Crimo, who goes by Bobby, was an aspiring rapper with the stage name Awake the Rapper, posting on social media dozens of videos and songs, some ominous and violent. In one animated video taken down by YouTube, Crimo raps about armies “walking in darkness” as a drawing appears of a man pointing a rifle, a body on the ground and another figure with hands up in the distance. Crimo’s father, Bob, a deli owner, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Highland Park in 2019.