Police say at least six people are dead and 24 were wounded in a shooting at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb

NOTE: A more recently updated story on the search for the suspect can be read here.Β Previous coverage below.

CHICAGO β€” Police say at least six people are dead and 24 were wounded in a shooting at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb, and officers are searching for a suspect who likely fired on the festivities from a rooftop.

Highland Park Police Commander Chris O’Neill urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect, described as a white male wearing a white or blue T-shirt. Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference that the gunman apparently opened fire on parade-goers from a rooftop Monday morning using a rifle that was recovered at the scene.

Covelli says police believe there was only one shooter and he should still be considered armed and dangerous. Police have not released any details about the victims.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade began around 10 a.m. but was suddenly halted 10 minutes later after shots were fired. A Sun-Times reporter saw blankets placed over three bloodied bodies. Several witnesses told the newspaper that they heard gunfire.

Hundreds of parade-goers β€” some visibly bloodied β€” fled the parade route, leaving behind chairs, baby strollers and blankets.

Police told people: "Everybody disperse, please. It is not safe to be here."

Video shot by a Sun-Times journalist after the gunfire rang out shows a band on a float continuing to play as people run past, screaming. A photo posted to social media appeared to show pools of blood near upturned chairs in downtown Highland Park.

Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with coworkers and the group was preparing to turn onto the main route when she saw people running from the area.

"People started saying: 'There's a shooter, there's a shooter, there's a shooter,'" Glickman told the Associated Press. "So we just ran. We just ran. It's like mass chaos down there."

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