Multiple people were injured or killed Monday when a gunman opened fire a few minutes after the July 4 parade began in Chicago's Highland Park, local authorities told the Chicago Sun Times.
"Unfortunately we have an active shooter situation in the Highland Park parade," Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said at a news conference at a nearby event.
“
Nine people have been reported shot
,” he added, “I am still receiving reports,” according to NBC News.
Dozens of people fled in terror from the shooting, and witnesses say they have seen bloody bodies lying on the ground, The Associated Press news agency reported, although there is still no official report of victims.
The shooter escaped after the shooting and has not yet been arrested, according to NBC News.
The parade began in Highland Park around 10 a.m. local time, but was brought to an abrupt halt 10 minutes later by the sound of gunshots, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Hundreds of attendees, some visibly injured, fled leaving chairs, strollers and blankets behind.
The police told people: “Everyone disperse, please.
It's not safe to be here."
Video shot by a Sun-Times reporter after the shots rang out shows a band on a float continuing to play as people run past, screaming.
A photo posted on social media appeared to show pools of blood near overturned chairs in downtown Highland Park.
A Sun-Times reporter indicated that he saw blankets placed over three bloodied bodies.
Gina Troiani told The Associated Press that she was with her son getting ready to join his little boy's kindergarten class and walk to the parade when she heard a loud sound that she thought was fireworks, until she heard people screaming from a gunshot.
“We started running in the opposite direction,” said Troiani, who was with her 5-year-old son.
“It was chaos,” she recounted, “there were people who were separated from their families, looking for them.
Others just dropped their cars, grabbed their children and started running."