Death toll rises in Chicago-area parade shooting

Chicago-area police say the shooter fired more than 70 shots from a high-powered, AR-15-style rifle down into a parade crowd from the roof of a commercial building in Highland Park, Ill., on the Fourth of July. Another victim died Monday at the hospital, bringing the death toll to seven. Thirty people were wounded. The suspect, Robert Crimo III, was later pulled over and arrested by police officers — after he initially evaded them by dressing like a woman.

What motivated the shooting? Investigators interrogated the suspect and reviewed his social media and posts. They have yet to find a motive for the attack, but officers believe he planned the attack for weeks. A police spokesman said officers had been to Crimo’s house in 2019 to investigate a threat he allegedly made against his family. They confiscated 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword, but later returned them to Crimo’s father, who said the weapons were his. No charges were filed at the time.

Dig deeper: Listen to Bonnie Pritchett’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about how the Texas town of Uvalde coped with the aftermath of a school shooting.