Twenty-three people were shot, and one person is dead after a large crowd gathered in a strip mall parking lot southwest of Chicago to celebrate Juneteenth over the weekend.
Authorities said they were monitoring the gathering, which began around 6:00 p.m. Saturday in Willowbrook, Illinois, before an unknown number of suspects opened fire shortly after midnight, ABC 7 reported. Sheriff’s deputies left the area to respond to a 911 call nearby, but they heard gunshots and immediately returned to the parking lot.
“It was supposed to be like a Juneteenth celebration; we just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped,” witness Markeshia Avery said. “They just kept going. After that, we literally scattered away.”
