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( Now) — Law enforcement agencies are responding to a shooting incident Monday in the area of a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.
Police are responding to an incident in downtown Highland Park, Illinois, the department said on Twitter, and emergency services are heading to the scene. They asked people to stay away from the area.
The neighboring community of Deerfield tweeted that its parade has been canceled, “due to a shooting in Highland Park.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade began around 10 a.m. but was suddenly halted 10 minutes later after shots were fired. Several witnesses told the newspaper that they heard gunfire.
A Sun-Times reporter saw blankets placed over three bloodied bodies.
Parade-goers are taking to social media, saying they are fleeing the area or taking cover in their homes.
Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with coworkers and the group was prepared to turn onto the main route when she saw people running away from the area.
“People started saying ‘There’s a shooter, there’s a shooter, there a shooter,’” Glickman told the Associated Press. “So we just ran. We just ran. It’s like mass chaos down there.”
Check back as this story is developing.
affiliate WGN and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
