4th of July parade shooting in Highland Park, Illinois leaves at least six dead and 24 injured

A shooting during a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, left at least six people dead and 24 injured, according to the .

Reports say gunshots were heard approximately 10 minutes into the parade at 10:00 a.m. CT. Authorities said they believe the shooter used a high-powered rifle, firing from a rooftop near the parade.

Highland Park PD described the situation as an "active incident." The nearby Evanston, Ill., police department said the shooter remains at large.

Highland Park has a population of approximately 30,000.

The Highland Park government advised residents to avoid the town center, although its initial statement did not specifically mention that a shooting had occurred. The city posted the message on its official Facebook page at 10:45 a.m. CT.

"Highland Park Police are responding to an incident in downtown Highland Park. All 4th of July events have been cancelled. Please avoid downtown Highland Park. Seek shelter if you are in downtown HP. More information will be shared as it becomes available,” the statement read.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering shared the same post on .

Neighboring towns such as Deerfield, Illinois have reportedly had their own official July 4th festivities since the Highland Park incident began. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city's police department was providing assistance to Highland Park "to bring the shooter into custody."

“There are no words for the kind of monster that stalks and shoots at a crowd of families with children celebrating a holiday with their community,” Illinois Governor J.N. Pritzker said in statement on Monday afternoon. "There are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams, their future."

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet on the show's abrupt end. Footage shows groups of people fleeing the area. Sweet also shared images of visibly bloodied individuals from the area.

Actress Rachel Brosnahan said she grew up in Highland Park and called the July 4 parade "a highlight of the year for so many families."

"I get a stomach ache every time news like this comes out, but I don't wish to feel pit in my stomach when you call family and friends to make sure everyone is okay. good with anyone," Brosnahan wrote. "No words."

The Highland Park shooting comes amid a series of devastating mass shootings across the United States. At the end of May, 19 students and two adults by a gunman at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. A few days earlier, another gunman opened fire on a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, while live-streaming his attack on Twitch. Calls for tougher gun control laws have been reignited in the United States in recent months in response to the string of tragedies.

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