Suspect arrested in mass shooting at Highland Park July 4 parade [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A person of interest in a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Illinois was arrested.
• Six people were killed in the shooting and at least 31 more were injured.
• Police arrested Robert E. Crimo III, 22, after a manhunt.

Police took a man into custody Monday evening after a mass shooting that left six people dead and at least 31 injured. The suspect, who targeted a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago-area community of Highland Park, Illinois, was arrested at around 6.30 p.m. after a manhunt that dragged on for more than eight hours. 

Police identified the person of interest as Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, a 22-year-old area resident.

The parade started around 10 a.m. on Monday but was stopped 10 minutes later after the loud gunshots were heard. Videos posted online by witnesses show parade-goers leaving their belongings as they flee for safety.

“We immediately identified that people were down, that we had numerous people who were injured and shot,” Chris O’Neill, Highland Park Police commander said in a press update Monday afternoon.

Five people were instantly killed on the scene, and one died while being transported to a hospital, coroner Jennifer Banek said.

Fire Chief Joe Schrage said his department rushed about 24 people to the hospital. Some of the injured brought themselves in. Schrage added that some parade-goers reacted quickly and applied tourniquets to control bleeding, which “greatly helped” first responders’ efforts.

People were told by cops to disperse, saying, “It is not safe to be here,” according to AP News.

The city’s “Fourth Fest” has been canceled and the public is advised to avoid the downtown area.

NBC reported that the suspect was known as a rapper who went by the stage name “Awake.” His YouTube account, where videos of himself walking around the scene of a school shooting and, at one point, wearing an American flag, was suspended.

The suspect also ran a Discord server, where he shared political memes and posted violent images about murder and suicide, according to NBC.

President Joe Biden said he and First Lady Jill Biden were “shocked” at the shooting incident and promised to not “give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence.”

Source: Insider