Highland Park police are still looking for the gunman. Police have identified Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, 22, as a person of interest and said he is believed to be driving a 2010 silver Honda. Robert ‘Bobby’ Crimo III, a person of interest in the July 4th parade shooting in Highland Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, is pictured in an undated photo released by law enforcement on July 4 2022. City of Highland Park “We consider him very dangerous,” police said. It appears the gunman fired from a roof where a high-powered rifle was found, police said. Law enforcement search downtown Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, after a mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Monday, July 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Nam Y. Huh/AP Police are describing the shooting as a “random act of violence.” The parade was about three-quarters of the way through when the gunfire erupted, authorities said. Revelers fled in panic, leaving behind empty carts, overturned chairs and half-eaten sandwiches. Police ran toward the shooting, but the gunman had already fled, Lake County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Christopher Covelli said at a news conference. Chairs and blankets sit abandoned after a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. At least six people were killed, according to authorities. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images Law enforcement search a building after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago on Monday, July 4, 2022. Nam Y. Huh/AP Five people — all adults — died at the scene and a sixth victim died at a hospital, Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said. One victim has been identified by family as 79-year-old Nicolas Toledo. Among the dead is a Mexican national, according to Mexico’s foreign ministry. Nicolas Toledo, one of the victims of the July 4th parade shooting in Highland Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, is pictured in an undated family photo. Toledo family NorthShore University Health System said it has a total of 31 patients. most suffered gunshot wounds and a few were injured in the chaos. At least one child is seriously injured, said Highland Park Fire Chief Joe Schratz. When the shots rang out, marcher Zoe Nicole Pawelczak grabbed her dad and started running through the sea of people. “I saw a lot of people being slaughtered,” he told ABC News. “Everybody’s crying. We ended up making it around a corner and hid behind a dustbin. This man was there with his two very young children and he had put them in the dustbin for safety,” she said. Pawelczak said the man wanted to leave to find his other son and asked her to watch the two children in the dumpster. “So I was watching his kids for him,” she said. “They were like, ‘What’s going on? And I said, ‘It’s just fireworks, it’s fine,’ I was just trying to keep them calm.” First responders work at the scene of a shooting at a 4th of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. At least six people were killed, according to authorities. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images Dr. David Baum was watching his grandson, daughter and son-in-law march in the parade when the shooting started. “The bodies were horribly, horribly, horribly injured by, you know, guns and bullets that were made for war — not parades,” Baum said of some of the victims. “The paramedics went quickly and assessed the damage — they saw disintegrating bodies and put a blanket over them quickly. And then they went on to try to help other people,” he told ABC News. “These are injuries that no one should have to see.” First responders work at the scene of a shooting at a 4th of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. At least six people were killed, according to authorities. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., who was at the march, tweeted that he is committed to “doing everything I can to make our children, our cities, our nation safer. Enough is enough!” Police are asking those who were at the parade to review their videos and share them with authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has agents on the scene and is investigating urgent traces of the weapon that was discovered, according to a law enforcement source. First responders work at the scene of a shooting at a 4th of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. At least six people were killed, according to authorities. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images The neighboring suburb of Evanston canceled its own Fourth of July parade after the shooting, Evanston police said. President Joe Biden said in a statement that he “asked for federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter.” “Members of the community should follow instructions from leadership on the ground, and I will be watching closely as we learn more about those whose lives have been lost and pray for those hospitalized with serious injuries,” Biden said. A police officer surveys the scene as he walks in downtown Highland Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, Monday, July 4, 2022, where a mass shooting took place at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park. Tannen Maury/EPA-EFE via Shutterstock He noted that he recently signed into law the most important gun control legislation in decades, adding, “But there’s a lot more work to be done, and I’m not going to give up on the epidemic of gun violence.” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement: “On a day of celebration with our family and friends, we grieve the lives taken in another act of senseless gun violence.” “More must be done to address gun violence in our country,” he said. “President Biden recently signed into law the first major bipartisan gun reform legislation in nearly 30 years — and we will continue to fight to end this senseless violence.” Police tape hangs at the corner of Central Avenue and Green Bay Rd., in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, Monday, July 4, 2022, after a mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park. Nam Y. Huh/AP In an impassioned statement, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said: “There are no words for the kind of monster that lies in wait and shoots a crowd of families with children celebrating the holidays with their community. There are no words for the kind of evil that deprives our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams, their future.” “Prayers alone will not stop the horror of rampant gun violence in our country,” the governor wrote. “We must — and will — end this scourge of gun violence.” Representatives of the gun reform group March For Our Lives, founded by survivors of the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, said in a statement: “Just three weeks ago, young people organized a March for Our Lives in Highland Park , along with communities across the country.” “We mourn the horrific loss of life in Highland Park and the carnage caused by a high-powered rifle,” they said. “We wish eternal peace to those murdered and we will fight like hell for the living.” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is among the leaders reacting to the nation’s latest mass killing, tweeting: “Not even a 4th of July parade celebrating our nation’s independence is immune to our nation’s epidemic of gun violence . Tomorrow, I will sign seven sweeping Common sense gun safety bills into law. We can’t wait.” The Chicago White Sox announced plans to observe a moment of silence before Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Twins and canceled postgame fireworks. Law enforcement has long been concerned about gunmen shooting from high places, which police say can give them a strategic advantage. The deadliest example is the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, in which the shooter took up a window position at the Mandalay Bay hotel. Fifty-nine people were killed in what became the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. In the wake of the Vegas massacre, law enforcement agencies across the country have put more emphasis on securing elevated locations around public events, but police have recognized what a daunting task it is to secure all of those places. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. ABC News’ Josh Margolin, Alex Perez, Jack Date, Will McDuffie and Caroline Guthrie contributed to this report.
