Chicago: At least six dead in shooting at suburban Fourth of July parade.
At least six people died and 24 were wounded after a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb, police said.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade in Highland Park began around 10am, but it was suddenly halted 10 minutes later after shots were fired.
"Law enforcement agencies are searching for the suspect; evidence of a firearm has been recovered," the city of Highland Park reported on its website.
"Numerous law enforcement officers are responding and have secured a perimeter around downtown Highland Park."
Gina Troiani and her son were lined up with his daycare class ready to walk onto the parade route when she heard a loud sound that she believed was fireworks - until she heard people shout about a shooter.
“We just start running in the opposite direction,” Ms Troiani, whose 5-year-old son was riding his bike decorated with red and blue curled ribbons in a group with other children, told The Associated Press.
"It was just sort of chaos."
“There were people that got separated from their families, looking for them. Others just dropped their wagons, grabbed their kids and started running.”
Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with colleagues, and the group was preparing to turn onto the main route when she saw people running from the area.
“People started saying: ‘There’s a shooter, there’s a shooter, there’s a shooter,’” Ms Glickman told the Associated Press. “So we just ran. We just ran. It’s like mass chaos down there.”
Illinois Governor. J.B. Pritzker said that he is “closely monitoring the situation in Highland Park” and that Illinois State Police are assisting.
Monday's attack is just the latest in a series of recent mass shootings to hit the US, including high-profile massacres at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in May.
They reignited the fierce debate over gun ownership and rights in America.
Man, 22, charged with murder after three shot dead at Copenhagen shopping centre.
A 22-year-old man suspected of killing three people at a shopping centre in the Danish capital Copenhagen has been charged with murder.
Two Danish teenagers - a 17-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl, and a 47-year-old Russian man were killed when the gunman opened fire on Sunday afternoon in the Field’s shopping mall - one of Scandinavia’s biggest.
Four other people - two Danish and two Swedish citizens - were treated for gunshot wounds and were in critical but stable conditions, Police Inspector Søren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit said.
Several other people received minor injuries as they fled the shopping centre.
Denmark's police said on Monday they are not currently naming the casualties or the suspect.
However, investigators have revealed the man appears to have selected his victims at random. Officials also said they do not believe the attack was terror-related.
The motive for the attack in unclear but Insp Thomassen confirmed the suspect was known to mental health services but provided no further information.
The suspect, who is in custody, was detained near the Fields mall. Inspectors believe he acted alone.
Insp Thomassen said the suspect was an “ethnic Dane,” a phrase typically used to mean someone is white. He will appear in court on Monday on preliminary charges of murder.
He said police received the first reports of a shooting at 5.37pm and arrested the suspect 11 minutes later.
Such shootings are rare in Denmark.
Danish broadcaster TV2 published a grainy photo of the alleged gunman, a man wearing knee-length shorts and a tank top and holding what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand.
When the shots rang out, some people hid in shops while others fled in a panicked stampede, according to witnesses.
Images from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and TV2 posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher. Witnesses said people were crying and hid in shops.
Eyewitness, Mahdi Al-Wazni, told TV2: “He seemed very violent and angry.
“He spoke to me and said it [the rifle] isn’t real as I was filming him. He seemed very proud of what he was doing.”
Hans Christian Stoltz, 53, was taking his daughters to see Harry Styles perform at a concert on Sunday night near the shopping centre when the gunman launched the attack.
"My oldest daughter, who's 18, she’s barely holding it together," he said.
"My other daughter - she got in the stampede that started when the perpetrator was firing shots everywhere. She got cut in several places from people and falling over chairs.
“It is pure terror. This is awful," he added. "You might wonder how a person can do this to another human being, but it’s beyond… beyond anything that’s possible.”
Witness Chassandra Stoltz said: "Everyone came running and we thought oh maybe they have seen Harry Style because he's in town."
When she saw a man stumble and fall while fleeing with his child in a pram, they realised it was something more serious.
"When people started running and we saw the panic, we thought it's not a joke anymore," she said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the Scandinavian country had been hit by a “cruel attack.”
“It is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Pointless,” she said. “Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second.”
After the shooting, an enormous contingent of heavily-armed police officers patrolled the area, with several fire department vehicles also parked outside the centre.
Laurits Hermansen, who was in a clothes shop with his family when the shooting began told Danish broadcaster DR that he heard “three-four bangs. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the shots were being fired just next to the store.”
The Harry Styles concert at the nearby Royal Arena was cancelled in the wake of the shootings.
The concert was due to begin at 8pm local time (7pm UK time) and large crowds had already gathered inside the arena when the show's cancellation was announced and they were asked to leave.
Styles said in a post on social media: "I’m heartbroken along with the people of Copenhagen. I adore this city. The people are so warm and full of love.
"I’m devastated for the victims, their families, and everyone hurting.
"I’m sorry we couldn’t be together. Please look after each other. H".
In a statement, concert organiser Live Nation said the gig had been cancelled at the "direction of the Danish Police".
It continued: "We are all truly devastated by the events of today and our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
"We are looking into future possibilities for the show, and hope to be able to give ticket buyers direct information as soon as possible."
Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been cancelled.
