The 21-year-old man accused of opening hearth on a crowd celebrating US Independence Day in a suburb of Chicago deliberate the lethal assault for weeks, police mentioned at a press convention on Tuesday.
Seven individuals have been killed and greater than 30 others have been injured within the assault on Monday, which came about within the suburb of Highland Park throughout celebrations for July 4th.
On Tuesday, authorities reported the demise of a seventh one that died after being hospitalized.
Suspect charged with homicide
The alleged shooter was later charged with seven counts of first-degree homicide, prosecutors mentioned.
Lake County State’s Lawyer Eric Rinehart mentioned the suspect will ultimately face “dozens of extra fees centered round every of the victims.”
If convicted, the person might face a compulsory life sentence with out parole, Rinehart added.
Gun was bought legally
After taking place on a roof overlooking the vacation parade route, the suspect fired 70 rounds into the gang beneath, authorities mentioned.
The suspect additionally took pains to attempt to conceal his id — attempting to cowl up facial tattoos and sporting girls’s clothes to attempt to escape.
“He introduced a high-powered rifle to this parade,” police spokesman Chris Covelli advised reporters. “He accessed the roof of a enterprise by way of a fireplace escape ladder and started opening hearth.”
Authorities confirmed that the shooter legally bought the gun used within the assault, including that it was much like an AR-15 rifle.
The suspect additionally possessed different weapons, together with one other high-powered rifle, police mentioned, regardless of authorities having been referred to as to his residence twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide, police mentioned.
He additionally appeared to focus on victims at random, and police don’t suspect there was any non secular or racial motive.
As Highland Park is a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, there have been preliminary considerations a couple of probably antisemitic motive.
Police plan to announce formal fees in opposition to the suspect in a while Tuesday.
What occurred through the assault?
Native households had gathered in Highland Park to observe the native Independence Day parade — which is a July 4 custom throughout the US.
Survivors and witnesses mentioned they initially mistaken the pictures for the sound of fireworks.
“The individuals who have been gone have been blown up by that gunfire,” David Baum, a health care provider whose youngster was resulting from march within the parade, advised CNN.
“The horrific scene of a number of the our bodies is unspeakable for the common particular person,” he added.
Bicycles, folding chairs, strollers and US flags littered the bottom of the crime scene — all left behind when parade-goers scrambled to go away the scene.
The suspect fled the scene and managed to evade seize. Authorities launched a large manhunt for the 21-year-old and he was later taken into custody.
Highland Park, a neighborhood of 30,000 individuals, is situated north of downtown Chicago and located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Gun violence within the US
The capturing comes amid a spate of mass shootings within the US.
Final month, US President Joe Biden signed the primary main federal gun reform regulation in three a long time.
US lawmakers reached the bipartisan settlement on gun management solely weeks after a gunman in Buffalo, New York, opened hearth on consumers in April killing 10 individuals in what has been referred to as a racist capturing.
Shortly afterwards in Could, a shooter killed 19 youngsters and two academics at an elementary college in Uvalde, Texas.
Gun-related killings within the US are greater than in most different high-income international locations. In 2019, for instance, 4.12 individuals per 100,000 have been killed by weapons, whereas solely 0.5 have been killed in Canada.
rs/wmr (AP, AFP)