Man arrested after 4 July mass shooting

US police have arrested a suspect after six people were killed in a shooting attack on an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois.

Robert E Crimo III, 22, was detained after a brief chase, police said.

The gunman climbed on to a roof, shooting randomly at spectators using a high-powered rifle.

It is the latest mass shooting to hit the US – there has been one in every week of 2022. President Joe Biden said he was “shocked” by the violence.

Mr Crimo was detained after a manhunt. He was referred to as a “person of interest” in Monday’s shooting, but after his arrest police said they believed he was responsible.

The gunman began firing at members of the public from the rooftop of a shop at around 10:15 local time (15:15 GMT), just a few minutes after the parade began.

What should have been a day of celebration quickly turned to panic, with pushchairs, purses and lawn chairs abandoned as crowds fled from the scene. Some witnesses said they thought the sound of gunfire was fireworks or a car backfiring.

One man, who was having breakfast at a nearby Starbucks when the shooting happened, told the BBC that 30 people came running into the coffee shop looking for cover. But they all had to be evacuated because they thought the gunman was trying to get in through the back door.

 

Source: BBC