Just this early Sunday morning, June 18, gunfire erupted at a Juneteenth celebration in a Chicagoland suburb.
According to authorities, the shooting began at around 12:30 a.m. today in a strip mall parking lot in Willowbrook, a town about 23 miles west of Chicago.
The group consisted of teens and young adults gathering to commemorate Juneteenth.
Police were in the nearby area around the intersection of Honeysuckle Rose Lane and Route 83 when they began to hear multiple gunshots going off.
Witnesses to the crime reported a scene of complete panic as people began to scatter in all direction seeking cover from the gunfire.
A total of 20 people suffered gunshot wounds and one of those individuals later died from their injuries.
All victims were taken to nearby hospitals to treat injuries and at this time, no arrests have been made.
Authorities are currently investigating the motive for the crime.
Witness Markeshia Avery told WLS-TV, “It was supposed to be like a Juneteenth celebration; we just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped. They just kept going. After that, we literally scattered away.”
Another witness, Craig Lottie, stated, “We were all just out, and next thing you know, shots just got going off. Everybody ran, and it was chaos.”
