The suspect identified as Robert Crimo “was taken into custody without incident” outside of Chicago after the shooting in the town of Higland Park.
Shooting from a rooftop into the crowd that had gathered for the traditional parade, the suspect unleashed scenes of chaos as onlookers ran for their lives.
Along the parade route, abandoned chairs and other belongings could be seen scattered after the desperate flight.
Authorities said about two dozen people, including children, were being treated for gunshot wounds, some of them in critical condition.
The Lake County sheriff said Crimo was “in custody.” Earlier, the police had warned that he was armed and that he was “very dangerous”.
The shooting came amid a wave of gun violence sweeping the United States, where an estimated 40,000 people are killed annually by firearms.
The shooting overshadows the most patriotic holiday in the United States, in which towns and cities hold parades to commemorate this date and where they dress in different versions of their flag, attend sporting events and celebrate with fireworks.
“We were getting ready to march down the street when a wave of people started running towards us. And right before that, we heard pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, and I thought it was fireworks,” said Emily Prazak, who was to take part in the parade.
– Spectators as white –
Don Johnson, who was hoping to see the parade, said at first he thought the gunshots were the noise of a car engine. “And finally, I heard the screams from the other block and people running, carrying their children and their things, and we ran to a gas station,” he told AFP.
Police officials said the shooting started around 10:14 am (1514 GMT) when the parade was more than three-quarters of the way through.
“It looks like bystanders were targeted… So very random, sad,” said Lake County Major Crimes Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli.
Five of the six people killed in the attack died at the scene, while the sixth died on the way to hospital.
Brigham Temple Hospital in Highland Park where most of the victims were taken reported receiving 25 victims with gunshot wounds, ranging in age from 8 to 85 years. Of them “four or five” minors.
Authorities claimed the shooter used a “high-powered rifle.” “Everything indicates that (the suspect) was discreet, he was very difficult to see,” Covelli added.
A Mexican is among the fatalities, according to the foreign minister of that country, Marcelo Ebrard.
“Our support to the Chicago community in their pain and sadness over this tragedy,” Ebrard said on Twitter.
– More than 300 mass shootings –
President Joe Biden said that both he and his wife Jill were “shocked by the senseless gun violence that has once again brought pain to an American community on this Independence Day.”
“I will not stop fighting the epidemic of gun violence,” he promised.
Biden last week signed the first major gun safety and control legislation in decades, just days after the Supreme Court recognized the fundamental right of Americans to bear arms.
The debate on gun control, which deeply divides society, has been revived after the two most recent massacres, that of 10 African Americans in upstate New York and on the other hand that of 19 students and two teachers in a elementary school in the town of Uvalde, Texas.
According to the Gun Violence Archive website, in 2022 there are already 309 recorded shootings in the United States, including at least another three on July 4, without victims.
“It is devastating that America’s celebration was torn apart by a uniquely American pestilence,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker told reporters.
“A day dedicated to freedom has highlighted the one freedom that as a country we refuse to defend: the freedom of our fellow citizens to live without fear of armed violence,” he said.
