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CHICAGO () — Michael Schwartz was with his wife, who is confined to a wheelchair, and his 2-week-old grandson, who was in a stroller, when a gunman sprayed bullets at a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois on Monday morning.
“So we did not have the option of fleeing,” Schwartz said during an over-the-phone interview with ’s Kelsey Kernstine on “Rush Hour” Monday.
Five adults were pronounced dead at the scene and another person whose age is unknown died at a hospital. The ages of the two dozen who were injured ranged from 8-85 years old, officials said. At least “four or five” of them were children, hospital officials said in a news conference Monday afternoon.
Since he couldn’t flee when the shooting began, Schwartz told he tried to get his wife and grandson as close to the ground as he could. He then said he stood up to see what was going on and even saw the shooter.
“I know this is going to go against the grain of what people are saying: But I saw the shooter. I saw his gun. In between the rounds, I stood up because — he was reloading and I thought it was safe — and I saw him,” Schwartz said.
“He was a young kid, skinny, and he was in a military shooting position very close to the ground — the kind of position only a young skinny kid could get into, and when he began shooting again, I hit the ground. But I had a good look at this guy who was not on a rooftop. He was on the street. He was right behind the street post,” he continued.
Schwartz said he feels this was not a random shooting.
“They say these were random shootings — this kid who was doing the shooting had a scope on his rifle. I saw his scope and I saw his eye in the scope, he said.
