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| Image: Matt Marton Ap |
Early on Sunday morning, at least 20 people were shot, one of them died, in a suburban area about 20 miles northwest of Chicago.
According to Tri-State Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Joe Ostrander, the mass shooting happened just before 2:30 a.m. in a parking lot of a strip mall in the hamlet of Willowbrook.
Twelve people got injured in the incident and were taken to nearby hospitals; seven of them were treated and later released, while five others are still there and two are in serious condition as of Sunday morning, according to NBC Chicago.
“It was supposed to be like a Juneteenth celebration," witness Markeshia Avery told WGN. "We just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down."
More than five area police districts were involved in the response to the shooting, officials told WGN. It was not clear Sunday morning how many shooters were involved or the motivation for the attack.
Deputies were in an area near the intersection of Honeysuckle Rose Lane and Route 83 when they heard multiple gunshots, NBC Chicago reported.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, which keeps track of gun violence, there have been 310 mass shootings in 2023. According to the archive, a mass shooting occurs when at least four people—excluding the shooter—are killed or injured.