On Monday night, police reported that they had arrested Robert E. Crimo III, a person of interest in the shooting at the Chicago Independence Day celebration that killed six people and injured more than 36 others. Crimo may be seen departing a car with his hands raised in a video provided by ABC News’ Chicago station after police surrounded the vehicle. Authorities have stated that charges would be brought against Crimo.
The shooting began shortly after 10 am as people gathered for a Fourth of July parade along Central Avenue. Police commander Chris O’Neill said firearm evidence was found on the rooftop of a building near the site where the shooting took place. The shooting caused toddlers to abandon tricycles and parents to run for safety with their children, turning a civic display of patriotism into a scene of panicked mayhem.
26 people were injured, mostly by gunshots, an emergency room doctor says. One of the victims was 76-year-old Nicolas Toledo, who was in a wheelchair and had not wanted to attend the parade. ‘We were all in shock,’ his granddaughter says. At least one of those killed was a Mexican national, a senior Mexican Foreign Ministry official says.
A woman can be heard saying between rapid bursts of gunfire: ‘My God, what happened?’. One cellphone video recorded what sounded to be about 30 rapid shots, a pause, and then another roughly 30 shots. The shooting comes after a massacre on May 24 killed 19 school children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. It follows a May 14 attack that killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office posted an online wanted poster of Crimo, showing a thin-faced bearded man with facial and neck tattoos. Crimo appears to have published several self-made rap songs using the artist stage name ‘Awake The Rapper’. YouTube has terminated an associated user account, after police named Crimo.
The shooting took place from the rooftop of a business that the gunman reached via an alley ladder attached to the building that was not secure. President Joe Biden says he and his wife Jill are ‘shocked by the senseless gun violence’. He says he has ‘surged federal law enforcement to assist in the urgent search for the shooter’. Biden referred to bipartisan gun-reform legislation he signed recently but said more needs to be done.
The community is nearly 90% white and about a third Jewish, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Last month, Congress passed its first major federal gun reform in three decades. It does not ban assault-style rifles or high-capacity magazines, but does take some steps on background checks.
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