6 killed in mass shooting on U.S. Independence Day

At least six people were killed and 40 others were injured when a 22-year-old white man Robert Crimo III (picture) opened fire at a festival parade in the suburb of Highland Park in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, the U.S. Independence Day. On June 25, just nine days after President Joe Biden signed a bill to toughen the U.S. gun laws, which includes enhanced background checks of gun buyers under the age of 21, the biggest national holiday celebration in the United States was shrouded in shock.

President Biden issued an emergency statement immediately after the incident, saying, "I'm not going to give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence,” but more people are calling for harsher measures to reduce firearm violence.” According to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization in the United States, there have been 309 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, and the cumulative death toll has risen to 10,060 until this year.

The massacre occurred around 10:20 a.m.km, about 20 minutes after the Independence Day parade started. Crimo, who lives in Highland Park, a wealthy village with a lot of, residents of Jewish descent, perched on a rooftop of a nearby commercial building in his neighborhood and started opening fire with a high-powered rifle indiscriminately at the spectators across the street.

When the spectators who enjoyed the festival waving the stars and stripes heard the gunshots for the first time, they thought it was military gun salutes for the parade or fireworks going off. Then, as the people in the crowd fell and covered in blood, others began to evacuate, and the area became a pandemonium. In some footages of the crime scene, more than 60 gunshots were heard.

Crimo was caught at a vehicle checkpoint this afternoon, seven hours after the incident. He has been active under the name ‘Awake The Rapper’ since 2016 when he was in high school, and it was found that he used images associated with mass murder and a figure is shown bleeding in front of police in music videos at the time.


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