Harris visiting Highland Park after July 4th shooting

Vice President Harris is visiting Highland Park, Ill., following a mass shooting there on the Fourth of July that resulted in the death of seven people. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the White House said that Harris will be joined by the city’s mayor, Nancy Rotering (D), Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Illinois state Sen. Julie Morrison (D). 

Harris’s visit follows Monday’s shooting, in which seven people were killed and more than 30 others were wounded as a gunman opened fire at a crowd attending the annual Fourth of July parade in the city. 

Authorities on Tuesday charged suspect Robert Crimo III with seven counts of first-degree murder, adding that more charges will likely come. 

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said at the news conference that the mass shooting at Highland Park was a “premeditated and calculated attack,” renewing calls for an assault weapons ban and urging the state to bring more awareness to its red flag laws as well. 

“The loss of life and these devastating injuries and the overwhelming psychological trauma demand we seek justice and that we take broader action to protect life,” Rinehart said at the news conference. 

Authorities also said that the 21-year-old Crimo, son of a former mayoral candidate in the city, had planned this attack for several weeks, disguising himself as a woman to blend into a crowd of locals as he accessed the roof of a local business to commit the crime.

Rinehart added that Crimo will face a mandatory life sentence if convicted of the crimes against him.

The shooting comes a month after President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law in response to the mass shootings that happened in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y.