Police in Richmond, Virginia, announced Wednesday that they foiled a shooting that had been planned for July 4, the same day as the massacre near Chicago, Illinois, thanks to a tip that led to the arrest of two men, one of them Latino, and the seizure of several weapons.
The shooting perpetrated that same day in Highland Park left at least seven dead and more than 30 injured.
There is a 21-year-old man in custody who has confessed to the crime.
Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith said at a news conference that a "hero"
overheard a conversation
indicating an attack was being planned at the city's popular Independence Day celebration and called authorities to investigate. denounce it.
[The alleged killer confesses to the Highland Park shooting. He bought weapons with the endorsement of his father despite threatening his family]
"It was a hero's report, someone who did the right thing, and multiple lives were saved because of that person," he said.
Police launched an investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, he said, which led to the arrest of two men who are not US citizens.
They were arrested on charges of being aliens in unauthorized possession of firearms.
Smith indicated that possible additional charges are being evaluated.
Officers seized two assault rifles, a handgun and hundreds of pieces of ammunition from a home.
All the material was on display
, Smith said.
The two men were held without bail at a local jail.
The police chief indicated that the reasons why they planned the attack are not known and that both lived in the same residence.
He did not say if they were related.
A couple looks toward the scene of the July 4th shooting in downtown Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
The apparently foiled plot was planned for the same day that a young gunman opened fire from a roof in the affluent suburb of Highland Park.
The shooting sent hundreds of people fleeing in terror and sparked an hour-long manhunt.
Authorities have not yet identified a motive.
"One call saved the lives of countless people," said the Richmond Police Chief, stressing the importance of people reporting such situations.
"The bottom line message is: If anything, report it," he said.