Survivors of 2022 July Fourth parade mass shooting describe chaos, panic and bloodshed

Survivors recounted the horror a gunman caused when he fired dozens of bullets at a 2022 Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago, detailing during a sentencing hearing for the man on Wednesday how they fled the route, hid inside businesses or treated the wounded packed into an emergency room.

Robert E. Crimo III, 24, changed his plea to guilty moments before his trial last month after years of unpredictable legal proceedings.

He did not attend the packed hearing as prosecutors showcased evidence prepared for trial, including testimony from survivors, relatives of those killed and other witnesses on the rescue of a child left orphaned and a “post-apocalyptic scene” of bodies in the street and bullet-ridden lawn chairs and strollers.

“It went from watching a parade to utter chaos,” testified Dana Ruder Ring, who attended the parade with her husband and three kids. “We just had to keep going. We just knew that staying still was not a safe idea and we were terrified.”

Her husband frantically searched for the parents of a child who was covered in blood while seeing “bodies still smoking on the ground,” Ruder Ring said.

She learned later that the boy’s parents, Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, had been killed.

The gunman did not attend or watch from jail, said Lake County sheriff’s spokesman Christopher Covelli. He's previously skipped court, including parts of jury selection, despite warnings from Judge Victoria Rossetti that the case would move forward without him.

Prosecutors also played parts of the shooter’s lengthy video-taped confession, which defense attorneys had tried to throw out. In the video, he is wearing all black and is slumped back in a chair, his arms crossed. He said he briefly reconsidered because of a problem with the gun, but he fixed it.

“I walked up the stairs, jumped on the roof and opened fire,” he said. He said he tried to avoid children, but it was unavoidable because of the “mesh of people” below.

He was calm and cavalier while being questioned, and even laughed and made jokes, said Brian Bodden, a Highland Park police officer.

“He was never serious, no remorse,” Bodden testified. He said the shooter had planned the shooting since about 2017, taking pictures of locations, and hadn't wanted to maim anyone.

“His intentions were to shoot at people, to kill people,” Bodden said.

When Bodden asked the shooter why he attacked the parade, he gave a cryptic answer about being a sleepwalker and added: “I don’t even think I really wanted to.”

Prosecutors recreated the horror of the day along with showing detailed perspectives of the aftermath during the hearing at a Lake County courthouse.

In one video, a marching band played “You're a Grand Old Flag” before shots were fired. Musicians carrying instruments ran as emergency sirens blared. The crowds quickly dispersed.

Many cried during the testimony, while others put their arms around each other. Boxes of tissues were spread throughout the room. About a dozen survivors and relatives were also expected to speak in court.

Retired Highland Park Police Commander Gerry Cameron, who was on duty the day of the parade, testified he ran toward what sounded like fireworks or a car backfiring and saw people hurt and others running in panic. He described clearing people who were hiding in businesses nearby.

“They were reluctant to come out. They were reluctant to come to the door,” he said. “They were horrified.”

The shooter fired from a roof, leaving behind 83 shell casings, authorities said.

The gunman injured 48 people and killed seven, including the McCarthys; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69. The youngest person wounded was 8-year-old Cooper Roberts, who was paralyzed from the waist down.

Emergency room Dr. Jeremy Smiley escaped the parade while carrying his daughter, got his family to safety and went to the hospital.

“The number of shots, it was just clear that whatever this was, it was going to be bad,” he said in court.

He described caring for Cooper as injured people filled emergency room beds and lined the hallways. At the same time, doctors kept showing up to help.

Meanwhile, authorities, including FBI special agent Marc Recca, collected evidence in the deserted downtown. Piles of strollers and lawn chairs were left behind. Bodies were covered in blue tarps.

“It was pretty eerie, almost post-apocalyptic," Recca testified.

The shooter will be sentenced for 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each person killed — and 48 counts of attempted murder. He's certain to spend the rest of his life in prison. Each first-degree murder count carries a maximum life sentence in Illinois.

The case has moved slowly, in part because the shooter backed out of a plea deal, fired his public defenders and reversed his decision to represent himself. After pleading guilty, he waived his right to trial by signing his name and Donald Trump’s.

The upscale Highland Park community of roughly 30,000 north of Chicago has mourned the shooting deeply. City leaders canceled the parade in 2023, opting for a “community walk.” The parade was reinstated last year on a different route and included a memorial.

Several survivors have also filed lawsuits against the shooter and gunmaker Smith & Wesson.

The shooter’s parents, who have attended most court proceedings, were not present Wednesday.

His father, Robert Crimo Jr., served less than two months in jail for charges in connection to how his son obtained a gun license. He declined to comment Wednesday.

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This story has been corrected to show that Cameron described clearing people who were hiding, not Conway.