Police responding to shooting at Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois

Police are responding to reports of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade north of Chicago in Highland Park, Illinois. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter it was responding to the shooting.

Governor JB Pritzker said there were reports nine people had been shot.

Police and ambulances from several jurisdictions swarmed the area, with several officers carrying rifles. Video from the scene showed people being placed into ambulances. 

CBS Chicago digital producer Elyssa Kaufman, who was watching the parade with her family, heard what sounded like gunshots a little after the parade started at 10 a.m. local time.

“Everyone was was running, hiding and screaming,” Kaufman said. “It was extremely terrifying. It was very scary. We are very fortunate, we got out very quickly.”

Some witnesses reported up to 20 shots, according to CBS Chicago.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said the rest of the festival has been canceled, and several nearby communities also canceled their parades. 

“Unfortunately, as you may know, we have an active shooter situation in Highland Park, at their parade. It’s been reported that there’ve been nine people shot,” Gov. Pritzker said. “I’ve been in touch with our state police, who are backing up local police and hoping to keep the crowd safe there.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.