Sangamon Sun

In a July 4 Facebook post, Sen. Doris Turner (D-Decatur) responded to the Highland Park shooting.

"The news coming out of Highland Park is heartbreaking. Families coming together to celebrate the birth of our nation, only to leave in terror and fear for their lives. I am praying for those affected. This can’t keep happening," Turner posted.

Seven people were killed and dozens wounded in Highland Park on July 4 when a gunman opened fire on the community's parade. According to the Chicago Sun Times, "at 6:45 p.m. Monday, the Highland Park police said a 'person of interest' — identified as Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, 21 — had been “taken into custody without incident” on U.S. 41 at Westleigh Road in Lake Forest. The arrest came after he was spotted by a North Chicago police officer and following a short chase. Crimo was taken to the Highland Park police station, police Chief Lou Jogmen said."

In a July 6 hearing, prosecutors say that Crimo confessed, according to NPR. The shooting began at 10:14 a.m. local time, soon after the parade began. Crimo was on a rooftop overlooking the parade route, Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon said, where a witness saw him "scanning the crowd with a gun and saw muzzle flashes come from the roof." Afterward, surveillance video is said to have captured the suspect running from the scene with a bag slung over his shoulder. As he ran, Dillon said, an object wrapped in cloth fell from the bag into the alley, where it was later recovered by police — inside was a Smith and Wesson M&P 15, legally purchased by Crimo in 2020. On the roof, police found three magazines and 83 spent shell casings. After Crimo was taken into custody Monday night, prosecutors said, he gave a voluntary statement to police confessing to the shooting and identified himself on surveillance video.

Lake County Coroner has named six victims, and the Cook County Medical Examiner has named one: Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park; Irina McCarthy, 35, of Highland Park; Kevin McCarthy, 37, of Highland Park; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park; Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan.