Alcantara (9-3) allowed two hits — singles by Luis Rengifo in the fifth and Mike Trout in the seventh — in his 11th consecutive outing of at least seven innings. The right-hander struck out 10 and lowered his ERA to 1.82.

Tanner Scott earned his 10th save, surrendering Taylor Ward’s sacrifice fly before retiring Jared Walsh on a liner to center for the final out.

Garrett Cooper and Bryan De La Cruz homered for Miami. Joey Wendle had two hits.

Trout snapped an 0-for-16 skid with his infield single leading off the seventh. The three-time AL MVP struck out in his first two at-bats against Alcantara.

Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani was went 0 for 3 with a walk. Ohtani, who turned 28 Tuesday, reached on a fielder’s choice in the seventh and stole his ninth base of the season.

Alcantara retired his first 14 batters before Rengifo’s soft line drive to right.

Cooper connected against Noah Syndergaard (5-7) in the third, driving a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left-center for his sixth homer.

De La Cruz went deep in the fifth. It was his sixth of the year.

Syndergaard allowed five hits, struck out eight and walked none in five innings.

Umpire Lance Barrett ejected Miami right-fielder Avisaíl García for arguing balls and strikes in the fourth.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the suspect, if convicted of the first-degree murder charges, would receive a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. He promised that dozens more charges would be sought.

A spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force said the suspected shooter, who was arrested late Monday, used a rifle “similar to an AR-15″ to spray more than 70 rounds from atop a commercial building into a crowd that had gathered for the parade in Highland Park, an affluent community of about 30,000 on the Lake Michigan shore.

A seventh victim died of their injuries Tuesday. More than three dozen other people were wounded in the attack, which Task force spokesman Christopher Covelli said the suspect had planned for several weeks.

The assault happened less than three years after police went to the suspect’s home following a call from a family member who said he was threatening “to kill everyone” there. Covelli said police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword, but said there was no sign he had any guns at the time, in September 2019.

Police in April 2019 also responded to a reported suicide attempt by the suspect, Covelli said.

The suspect legally purchased the rifle used in the attack in Illinois within the past year, Covelli said. In all, police said, he purchased five firearms, which were recovered by officers at his father’s home.

The revelation about his gun purchases is just the latest example of y oung men who were able to obtain guns and carry out massacres in recent months despite glaring warning signs about their mental health and inclination to violence.

Illinois state police, who issue gun owners’ licenses, said the gunman applied for a license in December 2019, when he was 19. His father sponsored his application.

At the time “there was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger” and deny the application, state police said in a statement.

Investigators who have interrogated the suspect and reviewed his social media posts have not determined a motive or found any indication that he targeted victims by race, religion or other protected status, Covelli said.

Earlier in the day, FBI agents peeked into trash cans and under picnic blankets as they searched for more evidence at the scene. The shots were initially mistaken for fireworks before hundreds of revelers fled in terror.

A day later, baby strollers, lawn chairs and other items left behind by panicked parade goers remained inside a wide police perimeter. Outside the police tape, some residents drove up to collect blankets and chairs they abandoned.

David Shapiro, 47, said the gunfire quickly turned the parade into “chaos.”

“People didn’t know right away where the gunfire was coming from, whether the gunman was in front or behind you chasing you,” he said Tuesday as he retrieved a stroller and lawn chairs.

The gunman initially evaded capture by dressing as a woman and blending into the fleeing crowd, Covelli said.

The shooting was just the latest to shatter the rituals of American life. Schools, churches, grocery stores and now community parades have all become killing grounds in recent months. This time, the bloodshed came as the nation tried to celebrate its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.

A police officer pulled over 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III north of the shooting scene several hours after police released his photo and warned that he was likely armed and dangerous, Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said.

His father, Bob, a longtime deli owner, ran for mayor in 2019. The candidate who won that race, current Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, said she knew Crimo as a boy in Cub Scouts.

“And it’s one of those things where you step back and you say, ‘What happened?” Rotering told NBC’s “Today” show. “How did somebody become this angry, this hateful, to then take it out on innocent people who literally were just having a family day out?”

Crimo’s attorney, Thomas A. Durkin, a prominent Chicago-based lawyer, said he intends to enter a not guilty plea to all charges.

Asked about his client’s emotional state, Durkin said he has spoken to Crimo only once — for 10 minutes by phone. He declined to comment further.

Steve Greenberg, the lawyer for the parents, told The Associated Press Tuesday evening the parents aren’t concerned about being charged with anything related to their son’s case.

“There is zero chance they will be charged with anything criminal,” he said. “They didn’t do anything wrong. They are as stunned and shocked as anyone.”

The shooting occurred at a spot on the parade route where many residents had staked out prime viewing points early in the day.

Among them was Nicolas Toledo, who was visiting his family in Illinois from Mexico, and Jacki Sundheim, a lifelong congregant and staff member at nearby North Shore Congregation Israel. The Lake County coroner released the names of four other victims.

Nine people, ranging from 14 to 70, remained hospitalized Tuesday, hospital officials said.

Since the start of the year, the U.S. has seen 15 shootings where four or more people were killed, including the one in Highland Park, according to The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University mass killing database.

Scores of smaller-scale shootings in nearby Chicago also left eight people dead and 60 others wounded over the July 4 weekend.

In 2013, Highland Park officials approved a ban on semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines. A local doctor and the Illinois State Rifle Association quickly challenged the liberal suburb’s stance. The legal fight ended at the U.S. Supreme Court’s doorstep in 2015 when justices declined to hear the case and let the suburb’s restrictions remain in place.

Under Illinois law, gun purchases can be denied to people convicted of felonies, addicted to narcotics or those who are termed “mental defectives” and capable of harming themselves or others. That might have stopped a suicidal Crimo from getting a weapon.

But under the law, just who is a “mental defective” must be decided by “a court, board, commission or other legal authority.”

The state has a so-called red flag law designed to stop dangerous people before they kill, but it requires family members, relatives, roommates or police to ask a judge to order guns seized.

Crimo, who goes by the name Bobby, was an aspiring rapper with the stage name Awake the Rapper, posting on social media dozens videos and songs, some ominous and violent.

In one animated video since taken down by YouTube, Crimo raps about armies “walking in darkness” as a drawing appears of a man pointing a rifle, a body on the ground and another figure with hands up in the distance.

Federal agents were reviewing Crimo’s online profiles, and a preliminary examination of his internet history indicated that he had researched mass killings and had downloaded multiple photos depicting violent acts, including a beheading, a law enforcement official said.

The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who had been in Chicago to address the National Education Association’s annual meeting Tuesday, visited the site of the shooting to offer condolences to first responders and local officials.

“The whole nation should understand and have a level of empathy, to understand that this can happen anywhere, in any peace loving community,” Harris said in brief comments to reporters in Highland Park. “And we should stand together and speak out about why it’s got to stop.”

Shapiro, the Highland Park resident who fled the parade with his family, said his 2-year-old son woke up screaming later that night.

“He is too young to understand what happened,” Shapiro said. “But he knows something bad happened.”

___

Foody reported from Chicago. Groves reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Associated Press writers Don Babwin in Chicago, Mike Householder in Highland Park, Bernard Condon and Mike Balsamo in New York, Aamer Madhani in Washington, Jim Mustian in New Orleans, Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco and researcher Rhonda Shafner also contributed.

E_Rengifo (6), Ward (1), Stallings (1). DP_Los Angeles 3, Miami 0. LOB_Los Angeles 4, Miami 7. 2B_Wendle (7). HR_Cooper (6), De La Cruz (6). SB_Aguilar (1), Ohtani (9), Hamilton (1). SF_Ward (1).

Umpires_Home, Lance Barrett; First, Ramon De Jesus; Second, Edwin Moscoso; Third, Alfonso Marquez.

T_2:47. A_13,338 (36,742).

a-singled for Velazquez in the 9th.

1-ran for Cooper in the 8th.

E_Rengifo (6), Ward (1), Stallings (1). LOB_Los Angeles 4, Miami 7. 2B_Wendle (7). HR_Cooper (6), off Syndergaard; De La Cruz (6), off Syndergaard. RBIs_Ward (33), Cooper (37), De La Cruz (17). SB_Aguilar (1), Ohtani (9), Hamilton (1). SF_Ward.

Runners left in scoring position_Los Angeles 3 (Walsh 2, Stassi); Miami 4 (Sánchez 2, Rojas 2). RISP_Los Angeles 0 for 4; Miami 0 for 8.

Runners moved up_Ward, Anderson 2. GIDP_Anderson, Wendle.

DP_Los Angeles 3 (Rengifo, Walsh; Rengifo, Velazquez, Walsh; Villar, Stassi, Walsh).

Inherited runners-scored_Barria 3-0.

Umpires_Home, Lance Barrett; First, Ramon De Jesus; Second, Edwin Moscoso; Third, Alfonso Marquez.

T_2:47. A_13,338 (36,742).

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court found that “the selection of an intimate partner is a private and a personal choice.”

The ruling also said the twin-island nation’s 1995 Sexual Offenses Act “offends the right to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, protection of personal privacy and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex.”

The ruling comes after a gay man who works at Antigua’s Ministry of Health and a local group called Women Against Rape Inc. asked that the law be found unconstitutional.

The rarely used law states in part that two consenting adults found guilty of having anal sex would face 15 years in prison. If found guilty of serious indecency, they would face five years in prison.

The gay man testified that he has been persecuted and assaulted, a common complaint across the largely conservative Caribbean region, where many homosexuals fear for their lives. The man also said that patients have refused treatment from him because of his sexual orientation, according to the ruling.

Meanwhile, the anti-rape group said that concern over breaches of confidentiality has prevented those in the LGBTQ community from seeking AIDS testing or treatment and that they receive hostile treatment by health care providers.

Such laws used to be common in former British colonies across the Caribbean but have been challenged in recent years. Courts in Belize and Trinidad & Tobago have found such laws unconstitutional, while other cases in the region are pending.

The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality welcomed Tuesday’s outcome, which came in litigation that began in 2020 to challenge what it called “invasive and unconstitutional remnants of colonial law.”

The group’s executive director, Kenita Placide, said such laws “legitimize hate speech, discrimination and violence and tears at the fabric of our society.”

The group said same-sex consensual intimacy is still criminalized in seven Caribbean countries, adding that while sentences are rarely imposed, penalties range from 10 years to life imprisonment.

It said constitutional challenges are pending in Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

In her ruling, High Court Judge Marissa Robertson said that “a proper interpretation of the constitutional text is only achieved by giving due recognition to the spirit of the instrument and what the instrument aims to protect. In this regard the aspiration is to be on a continuous path to a better understanding and realization of matters relating to human rights and human dignity.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if the attorney general for Antigua and Barbuda planned to appeal the decision. Government officials couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

The contract that expired last Friday covered workers at ports from California to Washington state that handle nearly 40% of U.S. imports.

“While there will be no contract extension, cargo will keep moving, and normal operations will continue at the ports until an agreement can be reached,” said a joint statement from the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

The ILWU is the union representing Pacific dockworkers, and the Pacific Maritime Association is a trade group for cargo carriers and terminal operators. Its members include such global shipping giants as Maersk and Evergreen Marine.

The talks are so crucial that President Joe Biden even stepped in last month and met with both sides in Los Angeles. They are taking place against the backdrop of surging imports that left backlogs of ships anchored offshore, and declining exports.

Both sides said last month that they weren’t planning any work disruptions, but U.S. industries are clearly worried.

In a letter to Biden issued hours before the latest contract expired, about 150 trade groups ranging from truckers to agricultural, chemical and toy industries urged the administration to work with both parties to extend the current contract, negotiate in good faith and agree to avoid actions that further disrupt the ports.

The letter stressed that the groups are entering their peak season for imports as retailers stockpile goods for the fall holidays and back-to-school items.

“We continue to expect cargo flows to remain at all-time highs, putting further stress on the supply chain and increasing inflation,” the letter said. “Many expect these challenges to continue through the rest of the year.”

A major issue in the talks is automation of port facilities. The union argues that it will cost the jobs of crane operators and other workers, who can earn $100,000 or more per year. The Pacific Maritime Association argues that automation will actually will increase employment by enabling ports to move more cargo.

Ports already have been struggling to handle container traffic, much of it from Asia, where ports are heavily automated.

After the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold in 2020, cargo traffic to ports slumped drastically. But then it recovered and has been booming since. Soaring demand has led to traffic jams at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which in 2021 alone moved some 20 million cargo containers. The ports, collectively known as the San Pedro Bay port complex, alone handle more than 30% of waterborne containerized imports and exports in the U.S.

In January, some 100 ships were waiting to get into the port complex, but that total is now down to 60 or even as low as 20 at times, Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said Tuesday.

Cargo is loaded and unloaded 16 hours a day, on average, Cordero said. However, the ports need to have a “24-7 mindset” to deal with Asian traffic, where ports operate around the clock, he said.

Contracts are renegotiated every six years, and Cordero said most have concluded without disruptions.

However, a lockout in 2002 and an eight-day strike in 2015 cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars and forced the administrations of then-presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to intervene.

Cordero said he hadn’t seen any work slowdowns at the port and was optimistic that the current negotiations would end with a fairly quick resolution.

“The world’s looking at us to make sure that were moving the cargo,” he said. “I think the administration has made it clear that they expect a reasonable … outcome.”

Unionized dockworkers also are seeking a raise and argue that shipping lines can afford it. With global demand, overseas freight shipping firms are seeing record profits.

Last month, Biden signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act — meant to make shipping goods across oceans cheaper — and blasted the concentration of corporate shipping in the hands of nine foreign-owned companies.

“These carriers made $190 billion in profit in 2021, seven times higher than the year before,” Biden said. “The cost got passed on, as you might guess, directly to consumers, sticking it to American families and businesses because they could.”

While rain was easing across Sydney, several waterways including the Hawkesbury-Nepean rivers system on Sydney’s northern and western fringes remained at major flood levels, Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said.

Emergency responders knocked on doors overnight in the towns of Singleton and Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, to order residents to evacuate, she said.

“For many, it has been a sleepless night,” Cooke said.

Evacuation orders and official warnings to prepare to abandon homes were given to 85,000 people by Wednesday, up from 50,000 on Tuesday, New South Wales state Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

On the fifth day of the flood emergency, Perrottet warned that homes that remained dry during previous floods could be inundated this week.

“This event is far from over. Please don’t have that past experience inform your current behavior,” Perrottet said.

Federal funding would be available to flood victims from Thursday, less than two days after a disaster was declared in 23 local government areas, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

“This is, I believe, the quickest that these payments have ever been approved,” Albanese said.

Albanese said the fourth major flood event across Sydney and its surrounds since March last year that followed devastating wildfires in the same region during the 2019-2020 Southern Hemisphere summer were evidence of the need for climate action.

“We are looking at long-term solutions. My government has changed Australia’s position on climate change from day one,” he said.

Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was elected in May on a promise to cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. The previous conservative government had promised a reduction of between 26% and 28%.

“What we know is that Australia has always been subject of floods, of bushfires, but we know that the science told us that if we continued to not take action, globally, on climate change, then … extreme weather events would be more often and more intense. And what we’re seeing, unfortunately, is that play out,” Albanese added.

When Parliament resumes on July 26 for the first time since the election, the government will propose spending 4.8 billion Australian dollars ($3.3 billion) on disaster mitigation measures such as building higher river levees, Albanese said.

Bureau of Meteorology manager Jane Golding said the weather pattern that brought heavy rain to Sydney since Friday has moved off the coast north of the city of 5 million people.

Heavy rain fell in the last 24 hours as far north as Coffs Harbor, 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Sydney, Golding said.

___

McGuirk reported from Canberra, Australia.

On Tuesday, friends and authorities confirmed that the boy’s parents, Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were among seven people killed in the tragedy.

“At two years old, Aiden is left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents,” wrote Irina Colon on a GoFundMe account she created for the family and Aiden, who was reunited with his grandparents Monday evening.

Friends of the McCarthys said Irina’s parents would care for the boy going forward.

Four of other others who were killed were identified Tuesday as Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78. Every victim was from Highland Park except for Toledo-Zaragoza, who was visiting family in the city from Morelos, Mexico.

Officials haven’t yet identified the seventh victim.

Portraits of some of those who died began to emerge Tuesday as investigators continued to search for evidence in the shooting that killed at least seven and wounded 30.

Irina McCarthy’s childhood friend, Angela Vella, described McCarthy as fun, personable and “somewhat of a tomboy” who still liked to dress up nicely.

“She definitely had her own style, which I always admired,” Vella said in a short interview.

Straus, a Chicago financial adviser, was one of the first observers at the parade and attended it every year, his grandchildren said.

Brothers Maxwell and Tobias Straus described their grandfather as a kind and active man who loved walking, biking and attending community events.

“The way he lived life, you’d think he was still middle-aged,” Maxwell Straus said in an interview.

The two brothers recalled Sunday night dinners with their grandparents as a favorite tradition. They said they ate with him the night before he was killed.

“America’s gun culture is killing grandparents,” said Maxwell Straus. “It’s very just terrible.”

Sundheim, meanwhile, was regaled as a lifelong congregant and “beloved” staff member at North Shore Congregation Israel, where she had worked for decades, the Reform synagogue said on its website. Sundheim taught at the synagogue’s preschool and coordinated events including bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies.

“Jacki’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all,” synagogue leaders wrote in a message on their website. “There are no words sufficient to express the depth of our grief for Jacki’s death and sympathy for her family and loved ones.”

Toledo-Zaragoza was killed on what his 23-year-old granddaughter, Xochil Toledo, said was supposed to be a “fun family day” that “turned into a horrific nightmare for us all.”

On a GoFundMe page to raise money for Toledo’s funeral expenses, Xochil Toledo said her grandfather was a “loving man, creative, adventurous and funny.”

“As a family we are broken, numb,” she said.

Toledo-Zaragoza had come to Illinois to visit his family about two months ago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. His family wanted him to stay permanently because of injuries he had suffered after being hit by a car a couple years ago during an earlier visit to Highland Park. The newspaper reported that he was hit by three bullets Monday and died at the scene.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to attend the parade because of the large crowds and his limited mobility, which required him to use a walker, but Xochil Toledo said the family didn’t want to leave him alone.

Katherine Goldstein’s husband described her as an easygoing travel companion who was always game to visit far-flung locales.

“She didn’t complain,” Craig Goldstein told The New York Times. “She was always along for the ride.”

Goldstein was a mother of two daughters in their early 20s, Cassie and Alana. She attended the parade with her older daughter so that Cassie could reunite with friends from high school, Craig Goldstein, a hospital physician, told the newspaper.

Dr. Goldstein said his wife had recently lost her mother and had given thought to what kind of arrangements she might want when she dies.

He recalled that Katherine, an avid bird watcher, said she wanted to be cremated and to have her remains scattered in the Montrose Beach area of Chicago, where there is a bird sanctuary.

___

Schulte reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Savage reported from Chicago. Venhuizen reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press reporter Christopher Weber contributed from Los Angeles.

The Electra Fire in Sierra Nevada Gold Country broke out Monday afternoon and tripled in size to more than 4.7 square miles (12.2 square kilometers) by Tuesday.

“The rate of spread isn’t what it was like yesterday, but it is still spreading,” said Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman. He said firefighters were working to keep flames confined to unpopulated canyon areas.

Mandatory evacuation orders and warnings combined affected up to 700 residents in Amador County and 300 to 400 people in Calaveras County, Redman said. Evacuation centers were set up for people and animals.

The fire started at a recreation area that was packed with people, forcing 85 to 100 celebrating the holiday at a river to take shelter at a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. facility, Redman said. All were later safely evacuated.

Redman said the cause of the fire was not known, but that it started in the Vox Beach area of the North Fork Mokelumne River. He said that could suggest fireworks or a barbecue as a potential cause.

More than 100 fire engines, 1,200 firefighters and 14 helicopters were sent to the fire, which was a threat to power infrastructure, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The terrain was described as steep and rugged.

Cal Fire activated an incident management team for the fire. The teams “are made up of trained personnel who provide operational management and support to large-scale, expanding incidents,” Cal Fire said.

One firefighter from the local fire protection district suffered burn injuries, Redman said.

Vox Beach is about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of Sacramento in the heart of the Sierra Nevada region that is steeped with the history of the mid-1800s Gold Rush.

Several other small fires were burning in the state.

Jovic, the No. 27 overall pick, was 5 of 7 from 3-point range and shot 9 of 16 overall. Six of his rebounds were on the offensive end, helping the Heat to a 47-23 edge on the glass. Jovic has played for Mega Basket in the Serbian league, averaging 11.7 points on 43% shooting in that league this past season.

“I’m just happy we won,” the 6-foot-11 Jovic said. “My performance, you know, I’ve been working my whole life to play here (NBA) and I did good.”

Gui Santos, selected by Golden State with the 55th pick, had 12 points and five assists. The 6-8 forward from the Novo Basquete Brasil league was 3 for 3 from distance.

KINGS 87, LAKERS 75

No. 4 pick Keegan Murray scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half, and Sacramento finished the California Classic unbeaten after beating Los Angeles.

Murray, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 23.5 points a game, also had seven rebounds and three steals. He was 9 of 16 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range.

Max Christie, a Michigan State guard selected with the 35th pick, had five points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles. Christie, the 6-foot-6 shooter and wing defender who left East Lansing after just one season, was 1 of 6 from the field.

GRIZZLIES 103, 76ERS 99

Jake LaRavia, the No. 19 pick out of Wake Forest, made four of Memphis’ 15 3-pointers, and the Grizzlies won the opening game of the Salt Lake City Summer League.

Memphis led by as many as 17 points. The Grizzlies made 7 of 9 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished 15 of 30. Memphis also had 29 assists on 37 made field goals.

Philadelphia had the ball down 101-99 with 15 seconds left but Jaden Springer had it stolen by Kennedy Chandler. Ziaire Williams made two free throws with 0.1 seconds left to seal it.

No. 23 pick David Roddy, a 6-6, 255-pound forward from Colorado State, scored four points for Memphis. Roddy was the Mountain West player of the year after averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists this past season.

Paul Reed led Philadelphia with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Memphis star Ja Morant sat courtside.

___

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The children’s parade in downtown Highland Park had already gone by, with about 50 school-age children riding bikes, scooters and tricycles. The musicians of the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, complete with full drum set and brass section, were starting to play atop a flatbed trailer.

Then came the sound that Shapiro knew did not fit: pop pop pop pop pop.

Before he knew what was happening, parade-goers from farther down the route began running toward the 47-year-old and his family, screaming about someone with a gun.

“It was chaos,” Shapiro recalled. “People didn’t know right away where the gunfire was coming from, whether the gunman was in front or behind you chasing you.”

For many people, the mass shooting that killed at least seven people and injured more than 30 others adds to the fear that any place, any event in the U.S. can turn dangerous or deadly, even though most gun violence is personal. Highland Park is one of the country’s safest towns, and July 4th parades among the most American of celebrations. Even before Monday’s killings, some people already were on edge, questioning whether to venture into large gatherings, looking over their shoulders during even the most run-of-the-mill activities, from grocery shopping to going to school or catching a movie.

But as the shots rang out in Highland Park on Monday, all most people at the July 4 parade knew at first was confusion, then terror as they searched for a safe place to hide or any way to escape.

___

The atmosphere along the short but crowded parade route was exuberant as the kids stepped along around 9:40 a.m., said Vivian Visconti, a 19-year-old Highland Park Park District counselor who helped organize and direct the children’s parade

Parents and other attendees smiled and waved at that first group, while Visconti instructed younger kids to keep moving if they slowed or momentarily veered off the designated route.

“It was fun, cheerful, and hot,” she recalled about passing through Central Avenue business district, lined with tony boutiques, cafes and restaurants. On either side of the street, attendees sat on blankets and lawn tables, some snacking on potato chips or cookies as they watched.

It took the children on the cycles no more than 20 minutes to traverse the entire parade route, which ended at the bottom of a hill near a park, where a bouncy house was set up for youngsters to play in after they completed the trek.

“We may have been one of the only groups who finished the parade route,” Visconti said.

One of the reasons the smaller kids went first was so they could run back up the hill and watch the rest of the parade.

Visconti, too, made her way back up the hill, to the other end of Central Avenue, near the Shapiro family. It was around 10:20 a.m. when she heard several slower booming sounds followed immediately by a rapid secession of what seemed 20 loud pops, she said.

“I thought it was blanks, part of the parade at first,” she said. “But my friend turned to me and told me, ‘No, it’s real!’”

After a pause of around five seconds, she heard another rapid series of shots. She and her friend ran.

Like most others who heard shots, they never saw the shooter, who had climbed a fire escape to perch atop a row of specialty stores. As he fired, some parade-goers fell, mortally wounded. Many others lay bleeding or were carried away by family and friends.

Not far from Visconti, 16-year-old Yonatan Garfinkle, of Highland Park, understood he had to get away fast.

A friend’s dad happened to be passing by in his Jeep. Fifteen other people were already in the vehicle or holding onto it. He jumped on its side, too, hugging it tightly as the vehicle sped away from the city center.

___

Staging for the parade was on St. John’s Avenue, near a parking garage and train station. Floats, bands and politicians headed north a bit, then turned west down Central.

Greg Gilberg, 45, was on a float with his wife just minutes from making the turn when he saw crowds of frightened parade goers bolt from the avenue. The Highland Park man didn’t hear any shots clearly, but he knew they needed to flee. So he and his wife hurried to where he had left his bike nearby; she jumped on the back with him and Gilberg pedaled as fast as he could home.

As he passed the Highland Park library, Gilberg said, he saw dozens of people streaming inside for safety.

The sound of the shots was much louder on Central Avenue — the parade’s main thoroughfare — where Richard Isenberg and his wife were watching the parade near a shop that sells outdoor gear. Though they could not see who was firing or where they were, Isenberg could tell from the sound that the shooter was close.

The couple fled, turning around a corner and into a lot full of large dumpsters. They saw a man lift his children into one of the dumpsters. He asked the Isenbergs to keep an eye on them as he ran back to the street for other relatives who had come to the parade with him.

The couple returned to the scene Tuesday to try to retrieve their car, which was still in an area cordoned-off by police investigating the crime. Recalling the thunderous sound of gunfire, Isenberg’s wife, who declined to share her name, covered her ears and closed her eyes.

“I can’t stop hearing it,” she said.

Amid the mayhem, the shooter, dressed as a woman, slipped into the panicked crowds and, for the moment, got away.

___

For Howard Diamond, 45, of Highland Park, attending the Independence Parade each year was a family tradition.

He was sitting in a lawn chair with his wife, 9-year-old son and other members of his extended family when he heard loud bangs about 500 feet away. Someone said it was fireworks. But he said he knew better, telling everyone they were shots and they needed to move now.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” he recalled yelling.

Speaking Tuesday from outside a police cordon on Central Avenue, he pointed to a child’s blue miniature car, toppled over amid the pandemonium the day before, saying it belonged to his sister-in-law’s son. He had hoped to retrieve his cellphone, but was told he couldn’t because it was still a crime scene.

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The Shapiro family wasn’t sure of the best escape route, so they decided to run all the way to their nearby home. Shapiro grabbed his daughter in his arms and they sprinted away as fast as they could, leaving behind their children’s stroller and lawn chairs as they fled. Later that night, his 2-year-old woke up screaming, Shapiro said as he returned to downtown Tuesday to pick up the items the family abandoned.

“He is too young to understand what happened. But he knows something bad happened,” he said. “That’s chilling.”

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Burnett reported from Chicago. Associated Press reporter Martha Irvine contributed.

None of the injuries were life-threatening, police and the A’s said.

Because the A’s 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays lasted just 2 hours, 27 minutes, it wasn’t yet dark enough for the fireworks show to start. Fans from a season-high crowd of 24,403 were allowed onto the playing field just after 9 p.m. local time.

“The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is investigating firearm-related injuries that occurred on July 4, 2022, after 9:30 p.m., in the 7000 block of Coliseum Way,” police and the A’s said in a joint statement.

Police initially were notified of a possible shooting victim inside the ballpark and officers located three fans struck by bullet fragments “from what appears to be celebratory gunfire occurring throughout the city of Oakland,” the statement said. An additional victim walked into a hospital.

“I think if it wasn’t Fourth of July, it would be more alarming. Any time during Fourth of July, I can remember this growing up, it’s never safe but people tend to do things that aren’t in the ordinary,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before the series resumed Tuesday night. “That’s firing weapons in the air in terms of celebration. It’s really unfortunate that we had that happen here in the Coliseum and there were people injured. I know we’ve reached out to those people.”

An investigation is ongoing and Oakland Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland offered a reward up to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest or arrests.

Police reiterated their joint efforts with the A’s and the team’s security to keep everyone attending games in the venue safe.

“From a safety standpoint, I think the Coliseum is a safe environment,” Kotsay said. “It’s just unfortunate that on a holiday with the fireworks show that people were injured.”

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Freeman died Sunday at Baptist Memorial Hospital–Golden Triangle, according to Lowndes Funeral Home in Columbus, Mississippi.

Freeman was born in Artesia, Mississippi, and a graveside funeral service will be held Friday in Caledonia, Mississippi, where he lived, according to the obituary.

Freeman was an 18-year-old student at Mississippi State when he enlisted to fight in World War II. He volunteered to become a paratrooper and became a mortarman in Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

He parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, fought in Operation Market-Garden, and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, later participating in the occupations of Berchtesgaden, Germany, and Austria.

“After the war, he returned to Caledonia and married Willie Louise Gurley on June 29, 1947, and worked as a mail carrier for 32 years,” the obituary said.

University of New Orleans historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s “Band of Brothers,” about “Easy Company” and its members, was a best-seller and inspired the 2001 HBO miniseries with the same title.

The unit’s last surviving officer died last year.

Freeman is survived by a sister, two daughters, four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

“Our dad was always astounded that a country boy from Mississippi was able to see so many places and meet so many interesting people,” the obituary said.

Stewart 4-12 4-4 12, Williams 7-9 0-0 14, Magbegor 5-8 2-2 12, Bird 1-7 0-0 2, Loyd 9-19 3-4 25, Lavender 1-6 2-2 4, Talbot 4-6 0-0 9, Charles 5-6 2-2 13, January 0-1 2-2 2, Prince 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 37-76 15-16 95.

INDIANA (73)

Engstler 2-7 0-0 5, Vivians 4-10 0-1 9, Smith 4-13 4-6 14, K.Mitchell 7-16 4-6 21, Robinson 5-9 1-2 11, Cannon 0-1 0-0 0, Hartley 1-6 0-0 2, Henderson 2-4 0-0 4, Pointer 1-2 1-2 3, T.Mitchell 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 28-73 10-17 73.

3-Point Goals_Seattle 6-24 (Loyd 4-10, Charles 1-1, Talbot 1-1, January 0-1, Lavender 0-1, Prince 0-1, Stewart 0-2, Williams 0-2, Bird 0-5), Indiana 7-20 (K.Mitchell 3-6, Smith 2-5, Engstler 1-1, Vivians 1-4, Pointer 0-1, T.Mitchell 0-1, Hartley 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Seattle 43 (Magbegor 11), Indiana 36 (Robinson, Vivians 6). Assists_Seattle 20 (Bird 5), Indiana 14 (Robinson 4). Total Fouls_Seattle 14, Indiana 16. A_2,585 (6,500)