We're closing our live coverage of the shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park near Chicago.

Here are the latest developments:

• The 21-year-old suspected attacker opened fire from a rooftop, and then fled wearing women's clothing to disguise himself as a parade-goer, police say
• The gunman has not yet been charged, but criminal charges are expected later today
• Police say the killer planned the attack for weeks, but no motive is yet known
• There were gun attacks across the US over the holiday weekend, including mass shootings in Minneapolis and Indiana

For the latest updates, read our story here.

Our live coverage was provided by Holly Honderich, Max Matza in the US and Alexandra Fouche and Malu Cursino in London.

Image source, Getty Images

The debate over gun laws arises frequently in the wake of high-profile mass shootings in the US.

Tuesday is the 186th day of the year, and the US has already seen 317 mass shootings in 2022. On average, they occur more than 11 times per week, according to the Gun Violence Archive organisation.

A mass shooting is defined by the research group as an event in which four or more people are shot or killed, excluding the attacker.

The killings in Highland Park have been the most widely-covered attack over the Independence Day weekend, but it is far from the only instance of recent fatal gun crime, which tends to rise in frequency during summer's hotter months.

Also on Monday, two police officers were shot at a concert in Philadelphia, triggering panic among people who were there to watch fireworks.

In Minneapolis, eight people were shot during an unofficial fireworks celebration.

And in Gary, Indiana, three people were killed and seven wounded at a shooting at a holiday party in a residential neighbourhood.

Less than 30 miles from Highland Park, 10 people were killed and 62 injured in shootings in Chicago - a drop over last year's total.

Image source, Getty Images

This attack comes just weeks after the US Congress passed its first gun control law since 1994.

The bipartisan bill came after mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde in Texas triggered lawmakers to finally act.

The new law contains several provisions, including allowing the FBI to access juvenile and health records from younger gun buyers aged 18 to 20.

The law does not include a provision that gun control campaigners hoped for - raising the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle to 21. Many of the most deadly mass shootings in recent history have occurred using semi-automatic rifles.

But the new law comes as the Supreme Court tears down a New York state law that required people to prove a special need in order to carry a gun in public.

Their ruling said that all Americans have the right under the Constitution to carry a gun outside their home. State bans on assault rifles are also expected to fall in light of the latest Supreme Court ruling.

Here's a quick recap of the developments in the investigation into the Highland Park mass shooting:

• The suspect in the shooting, Robert E Crimo III, aged 21, is in police custody; no charges have yet been filed against him
• In a press conference earlier, local police said Crimo had planned the attack for weeks but there was no indication of a motive
• He dressed in women's clothing to conceal his identity and more than 70 rounds were fired from a legally purchased riffle, police added
• Some of the victims have been identified, including Nicolas Toledo, from Mexico, and Jacki Sundheim, who worked at a local synagogue
• Highland Park's Mayor Nancy Rotering has said the alleged gunman obtained his weapon legally, and criticised current gun laws, which enable individuals to lawfully purchase weapons

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tells reporters she has been in "constant contact" with Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering.

The two mayors have known each other for three decades, Lightfoot said, after meeting in law school.

"The minute I understood what had happened I reached out to her [Rotering] and offered anything that I could do," Lightfoot says. "Unfortunately I have a lot of experience here."

Lightfoot says she offered the support of the Chicago Police Department, who "sprang into action".

"Whatever you need, we will be here for you," she says.

Image source, Getty Images

President Joe Biden has ordered the American flag be lowered to half mast at the White House and other government buildings after Monday's shooting.

"As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of gun violence perpetrated on our Independence Day, July 4, 2022, in Highland Park, Illinois, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff," the president proclamation says.

The flags will fly like that until 9 July.

Biden made a similar proclamation just weeks ago, after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

What else did we learn during the Chicago police press conference about Monday's Highland Park attack?

Officials said Robert E Crimo was dressed as a woman during the attack to hide his facial tattoos and help him escape in the crowd.

The authorities also said they aimed to reveal charges against the suspect on Tuesday afternoon US time.

Crime task force spokesman Chris Covelli says at this point authorities have not been able to identify any clear motive for the attack.

Asked by reporters about the gunman's weapons, Covelli says Crimo used at least two rifles and pistols. All weapons examined were purchased lawfully by Crimo.

Covelli adds that shooting appears to be completely random and there are no reasons to believe the attack was motivated by religion or race.

We've been hearing more from the spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, Christopher Covelli.

He says Crimo used his mother's car to escape the scene and blended in with the community because he concealed his identity by wearing women's clothing.

Covelli adds that a second rifle was located inside Crimo's mother's car.

He adds that Crimo remains in custody, and there are no indications he was acting with anyone else.

Highland Park's authorities are delivering a news conference about the Fourth of July parade shooting, where six people were killed.

Police say Robert E Crimo, 21, planned this attack for several weeks.

Christopher Covelli, spokesman for Lake County Major Crime Task Force, says significant amount of information have been obtained from cell phone recordings and other footage.

Crimo was dressed in women's clothing to conceal his identity, Covelli says.

More than 70 rounds were fired from a legally purchased rifle, Covelli adds.

We've heard from US President Joe Biden in the aftermath of the shootings and from the state's governor. Now its the turn of Illinois' lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton who says in a tweet, external: "Enough is enough."

Stratton echoed the governor's statement when he said gun violence was "our uniquely American plague".

She added: "I'm angry too. We all should be."

Highland Park's Independence Day shooting killed six people, and left at least three dozen others injured.

Image source, Reuters

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is speaking out about the "horrible tragedy" in Highland Park.

Lightfoot appears with other Illinois lawmakers to discuss a bipartisan bill meant to address gun violence.

"The gun violence epidemic is deep and pervasive," she says. "We saw that play out again in Highland Park yesterday."

Lightfoot says she has been in "constant contact" with Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering.

Gun violence is not just a Chicago problem, Lightfoot says. "Gun violence knows no borders or boundaries."

The bill, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, is meant to reduce gun violence nationwide. It includes enhanced background checks, a $250m (£205m) investment in community violence intervention and $100m for the national background check system.

People, who had set up deck chairs in the street to watch the annual Independence Day parade, ran for safety as multiple shots rang out shortly after 1000 local time in Highland Park on 4 July.

Toddlers in pushchairs, babes in arms, teenagers and the elderly fled the scene - and the gunfire - in fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

"He started shooting again, and we ran behind the building and I put my son in a dumpster," recalled one bystander.

"It was just horrible."

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from Highland Park

Image source, Getty Images

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is here to view the remnants of the Fourth of July parade. The Democrat looks shaken and tells me he is heart-broken at what's happened.

"Are mass shootings now a tradition in America?" I ask him.

"I don’t want it to be but it’s becoming one," he sighs

He backed recent major gun legislation aimed at addressing US gun violence. He tells me it was an "improvement" but didn’t go as far as it should have.

Senator Durbin says we have yet to see whether those new laws would have stopped the gunman here.

Illinois has tough gun laws but overall gun crime is high here.

Republicans often point to Chicago as an example of a place where gun control doesn't work.

But some context - a report in recent years from the city's police department has found a lot of guns come from outside of Chicago and from neighbouring states like Kentucky and Tennessee where the gun laws are more lax.

The state of Illinois has the sixth strictest gun laws in the US, according to gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, external. It also has the ninth lowest rate of gun ownership, according to the group.

The state has universal background checks and requires firearms to be safely stored - but it does not ban assault weapons.

Nancy Rotering, Highland Park's mayor, has told CNN the alleged shooter obtained his weapon legally.

She criticised current gun laws, which enable individuals to lawfully purchase weapons.

Rotering said: "That being said, again, if you can have a weekly mass shooting with a legally purchased gun, then I think we need to talk about why those laws aren't protecting the very people that they're supposed to be protecting."

US President Joe Biden signed into law a landmark gun control bill in June, which aims to impose tougher checks on young buyers and encourage states to remove guns from people considered a threat.

Robert Crimo, the alleged Independence Day shooter, has not yet been charged. But Rotering said she expects him to be charged today.

So far, police have identified him as a "person of interest".

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from Highland Park

Ken Pell is picking up his granddaughters' scooters. His wife and family were at the parade and dumped everything for safety.

"I wasn't here, I was at a nearby golf club and got notification of a shooting. We were then put into a basement for safety. I couldn’t get a signal and I was so panicked as I couldn’t get hold of my family for ages."

His daughter told him to leave the scooters because taking them back "would be bad karma".

"I couldn't do that I wanted to collect them. My grandkids don’t seem too affected at the moment but you know my daughter is not doing well. She is questioning raising her kids in a place like this."

The motivations of the gunman are unknown. Ken is Jewish and says this is a predominantly Jewish area so he is worried that's why it may have been targeted.

"We just never thought we would be hit like this but I guess neither did Uvalde [the site of a mass school shooting]."

What does the data tell us about gun culture in the US and its impact? Here are some key charts.

How many guns are there in the US?

Image source, .

While calculating the number of guns in private hands around the world is difficult, figures from the Small Arms Survey - a Swiss-based leading research project - estimate that there were 390 million guns in circulation in 2018.

The US ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, up from 88 per 100 in 2011, far surpasses that of other countries around the world.

How do US gun killings compare with other countries?

Image source, .

Nearly 53 people are killed each day by a firearm in the US, according to the official data from 2020.

The data also shows that the vast majority of murders, 79%, were carried out with guns.

That's a significantly larger proportion of homicides than is the case in Canada, Australia, England and Wales, and many other countries

Who supports gun control?

Image source, .

Despite widespread and vocal public outrage - often in the wake of gun violence - American support for stricter gun laws in 2020 fell to the lowest level since 2014, according to polling by Gallup, external.

Only 52% of Americans surveyed said they wanted stricter gun laws, while 35% said they should remain the same.

The issue is also one that is hyper-partisan - the Gallup study noted that Democrats are nearly unanimous in their support for stricter gun laws. Only 24% Republicans agreed with the same statement.

See more key data and charts here

The Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, was scheduled to include floats, marching bands, and community entertainment as part of the city's Fourth of July celebrations.

But around 10:15 local time (15:15 GMT) - just a few minutes after the parade had begun - a gunman who had climbed on to a roof near the parade route began shooting randomly at spectators using a high-powered rifle.

Image source, .

What should have been one of the happiest days of the year quickly turned to panic, with pushchairs, purses and lawn chairs left discarded on the street as crowds fled from the scene. Some witnesses said they thought the sound of gunfire was fireworks.

Police later recovered "evidence of a firearm" from the rooftop of a shop near to the parade route

Five adults were killed at the scene, as well as a further victim who the local coroner said died in a nearby hospital. At least three dozen others were injured.

At least eight victims remain in hospitals across Chicagoland (the Chicago metropolitan area) following yesterday's shooting, Jim Anthony, spokesman for the North Shore University hospital group says.

He did not provide updates on the patients' conditions.

Thirty-eight patients were initially admitted for treatment after the parade, Anthony said, at three of the group's hospitals: Evanston Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital and Highland Park Hospital.

"We were able to mobilise quickly," Anthony said. "Our physicians and nurses and medical support staff train for situations like this, not that we ever want to see them in real life."