Things tuned bloody as the July Fourth parade which was held in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park ended on a fatal note on Monday with Six people, among the 30, shot at about 10:14 am, having been confirmed dead.
Some seurity agents have also mounted a full scale search for the suspect who was believed to have opened fire from a rooftop.
Highland Park Police Commander Chris O’Neill had also advised people to stay indoors until the general area is declared safe.
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Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli told reporters that the gunman’s rifle was recovered at the scene.
Mayor Nancy Rotering lamented that the community was “terrorized by an act of violence that has shaken it to the core”.
Rotering told a news conference that instead of celebrating freedom, the people are now mourning the tragic loss of life and struggling with the terror.
“Our hearts go out to the families of the victims at this devastating time”, Rotering added.
Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker condemned the shooting in a statement.
Pritzker said there are no words for a “monster who lies in wait and fires into a crowd of families with children celebrating a holiday”.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin had also declared that he will not be sending any congratulatory messages to his United States counterpart Joe Biden on Independence Day this year due to the country’s “unfriendly” policy towards Russia and the amount of sanctions which they have slammed on them for their conflict with Ukraine.
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made this announcement on Monday.
This year, the congratulatory telegram will not be sent,” Peskov said on a call with journalists.
“This has to do with the fact that this year marked the culmination of an unfriendly policy towards our country by the United States,” Peskov added, saying that “it can hardly be considered appropriate” to send congratulations in these conditions.
Putin and Biden had not spoken since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Peskov confirmed during a conference call last Thursday, CNN reports.
Vladimir Putin has also boasted to the United States while reiterating that the numerous Western sanctions have only helped to push his country and its ally Belarus toward “speeding up integration. ”