According to a media report, a two-year-old boy named Aiden was orphaned after the fatal shooting at a National Day parade in the United States. The 37-year-old father and the child’s two-year-old mother were among the seven fatalities in Monday’s act in Highland Park, the CBS broadcaster reported on Tuesday.
Aiden was separated from his parents in the chaos after the shooting, it said. A couple discovered the boy in the care of a strange woman who was obviously in shock. The couple then took the child with them and brought it to the fire department. Aiden was later handed over to his grandparents by the police.
Donations for Aiden were called for on the Internet. A Gofundme page raised more than $750,000 (around €730,000) by Tuesday evening (local time) – significantly more than the target amount of $500,000. More than 13,200 people had donated at the time. “At the age of two, Aiden was placed in the unimaginable situation of growing up without his parents,” the statement said. Now the boy has a long and difficult road ahead of him “to find stability and finally to master life as an orphan”.
Seven murder charges against 21-year-old
In the suburb of Chicago a gunman opened fire on Monday, the American National Day. The alleged perpetrator was caught hours after the crime. The 21-year-old suspect has been charged with seven counts of murder. “These are just the first of many charges,” said Lake County District Attorney Eric Rinehart on Tuesday evening (local time) in the small town of Highland Park.
Video: Chaos and shock in Chicago
If convicted, however, the charges of first-degree murder alone would carry a sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole. Rinehart announced that the public prosecutor’s office would apply to the court this Wednesday for the suspect to be remanded in custody – without the possibility of bail pending a verdict. The prosecutor emphasized that more needs to be done to ensure people’s safety. He called for a nationwide ban on assault rifles, which have been used in numerous massacres in the United States, including the recent Highland Park crime. US President Joe Biden recently failed to make the same request due to resistance in Congress.
“He is a lonely, quiet person”
According to media reports, the suspected shooter could be identified from the weapon. Investigators found DNA traces on the gun that the suspect left behind at the scene, US broadcaster NBC News reported.
An uncle of the arrested suspect told CNN that he saw no warning signs of such violence. “I’m heartbroken. I didn’t see any indication that he would do anything like that.” He has never seen his nephew behave violently or behave in a worrying way. “I can’t say anything bad about him.” He described the young man as a withdrawn person: “He’s a quiet kid. He’s usually alone. He’s a lonely, quiet person, he keeps everything to himself.”
Are you aiming for a rap career?
According to US media, the suspect is said to have tried to make a name for himself as a rapper. Several social media accounts believed to be linked to the young man have since been blocked. In archived versions – apparently self-made – videos of the alleged shooter can be seen. They were published under a pseudonym. A video uploaded about a year ago shows a comic strip in which several scenes of shootings can be seen. At one point, a gunman lies on the ground in a pool of blood, surrounded by police officers with drawn guns.
Another video shows a man with brightly colored hair and several tattoos, including on his face. He can be seen in a room that is supposed to represent a classroom. Towards the end of the video, he poses in front of a blackboard with a protective helmet and a type of combat vest. He holds up a US flag. Investigators had published a mug shot of the suspect on Twitter. Authorities initially gave his age as 22, but an FBI bulletin later said he was 21.
According to the investigators, the suspect had been preparing his bloody deed for weeks. The 21-year-old apparently obtained the high-impact rifle legally and disguised himself as a woman to hide his identity and make it easier to flee, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.
19 school children shot dead
The US has long struggled with gargantuan levels of gun violence. At the end of May, an 18-year-old gunman massacred an elementary school in Texas: he killed 19 children and two teachers in the small town of Uvalde before he was shot dead by the police. Just over a week earlier, an 18-year-old had shot ten people in Buffalo, New York state, investigators assume a racist motive.
The killing sprees reignited the discussion about stricter gun laws. Firearms are often readily available in the United States. According to the CDC, nearly 20,000 people were shot nationwide in 2020 — more than 50 a day.
Source: Nachrichten
