Police have arrested the suspect in the shooting that left at least six people dead and 26 injured on Monday during a parade near Chicago for the American national holiday of July 4.
The tragedy, in a country still reeling from a recent series of deadly shootings, took place in Highland Park, in the north of the United States.
Armed with a powerful rifle, the young man fired on the crowd gathered in this wealthy suburban town of 30,000 inhabitants, located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The point on this new drama in pictures.
Directed by:
Olivier JUSZCZAK
On this holiday Monday, hundreds of people, including many families with children, took their places on the sidewalks of Highland Park to attend, as in all the United States, the traditional American Independence Day parade.
As high school marching bands marched through the streets, a flurry of gunfire rang out.
"We heard about 50 gunshots, we all thought it was fireworks,"
a woman who witnessed the tragedy, who only gave her first name, Zoe , commented on
CNN .
Describing the "panic, with people falling one after another", she said she hid behind a trash can before being taken to the shelter in a basement.
On leaving, she discovered “a battlefield”.
Armed with a powerful rifle, the young man fired on the crowd gathered in this wealthy suburban town of 30,000 inhabitants, located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The man had posted himself on the roof of a business, sowing panic before fleeing.
Five people, all adults, died on the spot and a sixth after being transferred to hospital.
At least 26 injured, aged 8 to 85, were taken care of by the emergency services and some, including at least one child, were in critical condition, according to a hospital official.
A few hours later, the scene of the drama was still cordoned off with yellow police tape.
And the main avenue of the city remained frozen for a few moments after the shooting.
In their flight, people left behind personal belongings that still litter the sidewalks.
Children's bicycles decorated in the colors of the American flag, strollers...
Folding chairs.
The police had identified a suspect, Robert – known as “Bobby” – Crimo, 22 years old and “from the region”.
After a brief car chase, he was arrested "without incident", Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen told reporters Monday night.
The authorities had deployed a huge security device with armored vehicles and federal reinforcements.
The tragedy immediately revived the debate on firearms, of which nearly 400 million are in circulation in the United States.
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