HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. -- At least six people were dead, at least 30 were hurt and a gunman was at large Monday afternoon after shooting Fourth of July paradegoers from a roof in a Chicago suburb, authorities said.
After an hourslong manhunt, authorities arrested Robert "Bobby" Crimo III on Monday evening in Lake Forest, according to Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen. He was returned to Highland Park as the investigation continued.
He was apprehended without incident after a police officer spotted his car, a 2010 Honda Fit, on a busy highway in North Chicago. Crimo briefly tried to flee but was caught and then handcuffed facedown on the pavement, according to police and photos by witnesses to the arrest.
Authorities initially said he was 22, but an FBI bulletin and Crimo's social media said he was 21.
Police declined to immediately identify Crimo as a suspect but said identifying him as a person of interest, sharing his name and other information publicly was a serious step.
Speaking outside a Highland Park fire station late Monday afternoon, Gov. J.B. Pritzker decried the shooting, saying he spoke with President Joe Biden about it earlier. They both agree on one thing, Pritzker said: "This madness must stop."
"I'm furious that children and their families have been traumatized," Pritzker said, flanked by several elected officials including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. "While we celebrate the Fourth of July just once a year, mass shootings have become our weekly -- yes, weekly -- American tradition."
Shortly after 10 a.m., as the parade in downtown Highland Park was three-quarters of the way done, the shooter atop a building began firing into the crowd, seeming to target observers, until police approached, authorities say. The gunman then escaped, leading law enforcement on a manhunt.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said the five people killed at the parade were adults, but didn't have information on the sixth victim, who was taken to a hospital and died there.
One of those killed was a Mexican national, Roberto Velasco, Mexico's director for North American affairs, said Monday on Twitter. He said two other Mexicans were wounded.
Nicolas Toledo, who had recently moved back to Highland Park from Mexico to spend more time with his family, was also among the victims, according to his granddaughter, Xochil Toledo.
Toledo said her family had gone out at midnight to line up chairs so 15 of them could be together for the Fourth of July. Three in that group would be shot.
Police have not released details about the victims or wounded.
The shooter was able to climb a ladder attached to a building in the Highland Park downtown area, firing at the crowd from above, police say.
Access via the ladder in an alleyway was "unsecure," allowing the gunman to gain access to the roof of a business, Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference.
Police already at the parade quickly responded, and the gunman stopped shooting as officers approached. But the gunman fled, leading to a multiagency manhunt.
Gallery: Highland Park parade shooting
Highland Park Fire Chief Joe Schrage said crews transported 23 people to local hospitals, while others walked in to emergency rooms. One included a child who was transported by helicopter to Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago.
NorthShore University Health Center received 26 patients after the attack. All but one had gunshot wounds, said Dr. Brigham Temple, medical director of emergency preparedness. Their ages ranged from 8 to 85, and Temple estimated that four or five patients were children.
Temple said 19 of them were treated and discharged.
The NorthShore Evanston Hospital -- a Level 1 trauma center -- treated five, spokesperson Jim Anthony said in a statement. He said the "vast majority" of those patients were gunshot victims.
The Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital treated eight patients from the shooting, six of whom had gunshot wounds and two of whom were injured in falls, according to spokesperson Christopher King. As of 3:30 p.m., four had been released and four remained hospitalized in "a mix of good to fair condition," King said.
The Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, also a Level 1 trauma center, was treating one patient as of 3:30 p.m. local time, according to spokesperson Julie Nakis.
Highland Park police Cmdr. Chris O'Neill, the incident commander on scene, 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."
While police recovered a rifle from the scene, federal authorities are performing a trace to try to determine its origin, authorities said. Police also found a ladder attached to the building.
EVENTS CANCELED
Police believe there was only one shooter but warned that he should still be considered armed and dangerous.
Nearby cities canceled events including parades and fireworks. Evanston, Deerfield, Skokie, Waukegan and Glencoe canceled events. The Chicago White Sox also announced on Twitter that a planned post-game fireworks show is canceled due to the shooting.
More than 100 law enforcement officers were called to the parade scene or dispatched to find the suspected shooter.
Mayor Nancy Rotering said first responders had rushed to render aid during the shooting, risking their own safety to help others.
"On a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we're instead mourning the loss, the tragic loss, of life and struggling with the terror that was brought upon us," Rotering said.
Highland Park is a close-knit community of about 30,000 people located on the shores of Lake Michigan just north of Chicago, with mansions and sprawling lakeside estates. In 1998, Vanity Fair said the largely white and Jewish suburb "has the feel of a gated community without the actual gates."
While no motive was given for the shooting, some witnesses speculated that the community may have been targeted because of its significant Jewish population. The northern suburbs have seen a rash of antisemitic sentiment in recent months, including on Holocaust Remembrance Day in April, when someone left antisemitic flyers in driveways in Highland Park.
A photo of Crimo posted by police depicted a shaggy-haired male with multiple tattoos on his neck and face. The image matches social media photos of a Chicago-area rapper Awake the Rapper.
Some of the videos connected to that name online, some of which feature Crimo's face, depict imagery, including a heavily armed shooter entering a school, drawings of a person with a long gun and animations of injured people.
People filtered in and out of a Highland Park municipal building designated as a family reunification center Monday afternoon.
Some brought coolers of food; boxes of doughnuts, water and Gatorade, while others sought information about family or friends.
At least three people reported they were there for news of family or friends, or other information about the shooting, but declined to speak further.
Highland Park was the setting of a large gathering in support of gun control on June 11.
Less than a decade ago, Highland Park found itself at the center of the national gun control debate.
Pediatrician Arie Friedman, along with the Illinois State Rifle Association, claimed in court that Highland Park's 2013 ban on assault weapons violated Friedman's right to use his semi-automatic weapons to protect his home and family.
The case made its way to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled the ordinance could remain on the books.
"A ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines might not prevent shootings in Highland Park (where they are already rare), but it may reduce the carnage if a mass shooting occurs," the court wrote.
Gun rights advocates were unsuccessful in getting the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. But in a 2015 dissent, Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia said they would in fact have heard the case, saying the 7th Circuit's decision upholding the ban "flouts two of our Second Amendment precedents."
ELECTED OFFICIALS
As local, state and federal law enforcement officers continue a manhunt for the gunman, elected officials are expressing their sorrow and offering assistance.
"Families from all over seek out this time-honored tradition on Fourth of July -- and today, many found themselves running for their lives," Duckworth said. "Every community deserves to be safe from senseless gun violence."
Fellow Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said his office is closely monitoring unfolding events after the act of "senseless violence."
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she has been in touch with Rotering, a Democrat, and has offered support.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from suburban Chicago, said, "This scene has repeated itself over and over again because of the unfettered access to weapons of war. What was supposed to be a celebration of our freedom and unity today turned into yet another bloody massacre."
Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat who represents Illinois's 10th district that includes Highland Park, was at the parade with his campaign team when gunshots erupted.
"Hearing of loss of life and others injured. My condolences to the family and loved ones; my prayers for the injured and for my community; and my commitment to do everything I can to make our children, our towns, our nation safer," Schneider tweeted.
Americans should be free to attend parades without threat of gun violence, according to Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill.
Biden said after speaking with Pritzker, he offered the full support of the federal government.
"I also surged Federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter, who remains at large at this time," according to Biden's statement.
The president also said he was "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day."
He then touted his recent signing of "the first major bipartisan gun reform legislation in almost 30 years into law, which includes actions that will save lives. But there is much more work to do."
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is scheduled to be in Chicago today, echoed the sentiment.
"We are thankful to law enforcement and the first responders who arrived at the scene today and undoubtedly saved lives," she said in a statement. "Today's shooting is an unmistakable reminder that more should be done to address gun violence in our country."
Information for this article was contributed by Michael Tarm, Kathleen Foody, Roger Schneider, Mike Balsamo, David Koenig, Jeff Martin, and Fabiola Sanchez of The Associated Press; by Jake Sheridan, Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Gregory Pratt, Rosemary Sobol, Jeremy Gorner, Megan Crepeau, Annie Sweeney and Kinsey Crowley of the Chicago Tribune (TNS); by Robert Chiarito, Mitch Smith, Dan Simmons and Claire Fahy of The New York Times; and by Susan Berger, Mark Guarino, Meryl Kornfield, Lateshia Beachum, Praveena Somasundaram, Holly Bailey and James Bikales of The Washington Post.