Status: 05.07.2022 02:17 am
Shots were fired during a US National Day parade in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. According to police, at least six people were killed and many others injured.
Police arrested the suspect in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park after a deadly gun attack at a National Day parade. The 22-year-old was taken into custody after a brief chase, police said.
The man is suspected of having killed at least six people by shooting during an Independence Day parade near Chicago. At least 30 people were injured.
US President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill were “shocked by senseless gun violence that has once again brought grief to an American community this Independence Day.”
Several killed by gunfire at a parade in suburban Chicago
Tagesschau 8:00 p.m., July 4th, 2022
Backgrounds still unknown
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was also shocked: “It is devastating that a celebration of America has been torn to pieces by our uniquely American plague,” he said at a news conference. “I’m angry because it doesn’t have to be that way. While we celebrate the Fourth of July once a year, mass shootings are a weekly – yes, weekly – American tradition.”
Highland Parks Mayor Nancy Rotering spoke at a press conference of a terrorist act – all on a day when the city actually wanted to celebrate community and freedom. The 4th of July festival had been cancelled, according to Rotering.
Miles Zaremski, an eyewitness, told CNN that he saw several injured and lifeless people lying on the ground. “It was heartbreaking.” Zaremski said he heard around 30 pops. People fled the parade. “It was just chaotic.”
Several cases of gun violence since the beginning of the year
The US has long struggled with massive levels of gun violence. At the end of May, an 18-year-old gunman massacred a Texas elementary school. He had killed 19 children and 2 teachers in the small town of Uvalde before being shot dead by the police. The bloody deed had rekindled the discussion about stricter gun laws in the USA. Firearms are relatively easy to obtain in the United States.
Congressman Brad Schneider, who wanted to attend the parade, wrote on Twitter: “My condolences to the family and loved ones.” He is committed to doing everything “to make our children, our cities and our country safer. Enough is enough!”
With information from Steffen Root, ARD Studio Washington
United States: dead and injured by shots at the parade near Chicago
Steffen Root, ARD Washington, July 4, 2022 11:03 p.m