Only in America: Rep Sean Casten after July 4th Highland Park shooting

Authorities claim five people were killed and at least 16 were injured when gunfire erupted on a Fourth of July parade route in the upscale Chicago suburb of Highland Park on Monday, while spectators frantically fled the scene. The Associated Press reported the death toll of at least 6 people.

Also read: Shooting at July 4 parade in Illinois leaves 6 dead

“Only in America do families have to flee from gunfire and get shot at a parade. We CANNOT let gun violence continue another day,” Sean Casten, Democratic US Representative for Illinois’s 6th district, said in a tweet after the incident. Casten had linked a report of the shooting in his tweet.

Highland Park city officials claimed on their website that five individuals were killed and 16 were sent to the hospital.

“Numerous law enforcement officers are responding and have secured a perimeter around downtown Highland Park,” the statement added.

Also read: Highland Park July 4 parade shooting: What we know so far

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the march began around 10 am, and shots were fired 10 minutes later. Hundreds of paradegoers abandoned the path, leaving chairs, baby strollers, and blankets behind.

Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with colleagues and was about to turn onto the main route when she noticed people fleeing the area.

“People started saying ‘There’s a shooter, there’s a shooter, there a shooter,’” Glickman informed the Associated Press. “So we just ran. We just ran. It’s like mass chaos down there.”

Also read: Highland Park July 4 parade shooting: What we know so far

Highland Park’s fourth fest stands cancelled, according to Mayor Nancy Rotering.

The incident comes while many Americans are still reeling from the May 24 massacre that murdered 19 schoolchildren and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the May 14 shooting incident that killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.