A mass shooting is reported as having taken place at a fourth of July Independence day parade in Chicago.
The Highland Park parade began at 10:00am. Just 10 minutes later, the parade was reportedly halted after several shots were heard being fired.
According to Highland Park Police, six people were killed in the shooting and at least 24 people have been injured.
A local resident named Miles Zaremski described hearing '20 to 25 shots' in 'rapid succession'.
"So it couldn't have been just a handgun or a shotgun," he told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Zaremski said he saw a woman 'covered with blood'. He continued: "She did not survive."
A Chicago Sun-Times reporter also stated they saw three bloodied bodies covered by blankets and five others wounded.
The incident is reported by authorities as still being 'active'.
Governor JB Pritzker – the 43rd governor of Illinois – tweeted: "My staff and I are closely monitoring the situation in Highland Park. State police are on the scene and we have made all state resources available to the community.
"We will continue working with local officials to help those affected."
Locals have also been urged to 'shelter in place' by City of Highland Park, Illinois Government.
The Facebook post reads: "SHELTER IN PLACE. Highland Park Police are responding to an incident in downtown Highland Park. All 4th of July events have been canceled.
"Please avoid downtown Highland Park. Take shelter if in downtown HP. More information will be shared as it becomes available."
Other Independence Day celebrations have been cancelled as a safety precaution, with Evanston Police stating: "While there is no known threat to Evanston residents, the shooter is still at large; and cancelations are taking place in an abundance of caution.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to our neighbors to the the north."
Law enforcement officers are still searching for the suspect, who was described at a press conference held just before 1:00pm as being between 18-20 years old, male and white.
The suspect is reported as having long black hair, of a small build and wearing a blue or white t-shirt.
Eyewitness Alexander Sandoval, who lives close to the parade, reflected how he and his family saw the 'Navy's marchers and float pass by' just before they 'first heard the gunshots'.
Sandoval explained how he 'thought it was them saluting the flag and shooting blanks' but then he 'saw people starting to run, and the shots kept going' so he and his family 'started running'.
The 39-year-old said: "I grabbed my son and tried to break into one of the local buildings, but I couldn’t. The shooting stopped. I guess he was reloading. So I kept running and ran into an alley and put my son in a garbage dumpster so he could be safe.
"I saw a little boy who was shot being carried away. It was just terror.
"This doesn’t happen here. It shouldn’t happen anywhere."
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Topics: US News, no-article-matching
