“I thought they were fireworks”: witnesses recount the minutes of terror they experienced during the mass shooting in the US

A witness of mass shooting that this Monday claimed the lives of at least 6 people and left two dozen injured in a small town in the US state of Illinois, he told CNN that at first he thought “they were fireworks” for the July 4 celebration.

The witness explained that the city, Highland Parkof about 30,000 inhabitants, does not usually have fireworks in its celebrations of the Independence Dayso he was surprised to hear them.

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His is one of the many testimonies that flooded television networks and the web pages of American newspapers shortly after the news of the shooting broke.

Most of the testimonies described the sound of the shots as a burstwith short intervals of silence so that the author could reload his rifle.

Chairs and bicycles remain abandoned after people fled the scene of a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, United States, on July 4, 2022. (EFE/EPA/TANNEN MAURY).

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Authorities have described the weapon recovered at the crime scene as “a high-caliber rifle.”without clarifying whether it is a semi-automatic weapon like the one used in the mass shooting in Uvalde (Texas), in which 19 children and two teachers died just over a month ago.

Another witness, who came from the state of Arizona to see the 4th of July parade in Highland Park with his father, described to CNN how saw a girl shot to death as she turned around trying to run away.

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“To experience this at a party that means a lot to people because they come with their families is crazy, and the only thing I could think about was getting my daughter to safety.”another witness told ABC.

The woman explained that seeing so many people running towards her made her feel “terrified”and that motivated her to flee from the place where she had hidden with her daughter -a nearby store-, and keep running.

A police officer searches downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, where a shooting took place during a U.S. Independence Day parade, on July 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Another man told The Chicago Sun Times that he and his partner were separated during the chaos, each taking one of their two children with them.

“I took my son and tried to get into one of the local buildings, but I couldn’t. The shots stopped, I imagine the shooter was reloading. So I kept running and went into an alley and put my son in a dumpster so he would be safe.”, explained the man to the newspaper.

More witnesses explained the chaos of the moment, with people running in terror in all directions, something that can also be seen in various videos posted on social networks by those attending the July 4 parade.

The suspect has not yet been captured, and authorities have explained that he likely acted alone, and his target appeared to be parade-goers, whom he shot from a nearby rooftop.

Source: Elcomercio