AT least 20 people have been shot, including one fatally, during a Juneteenth celebration.
The shooting occurred on Sunday at around 12.30am in a strip mall parking lot in the Chicago suburb of Willowbrook, Illinois.
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Initially, 10 people were believed to be shot, but later a DuPage County Sheriff's Office official later said that a total of 20 people were struck.
One person died from their injuries and two other victims are in critical condition.
Fire officials say others had so-called graze wounds.
"It was supposed to be like a Juneteenth celebration; we just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped," witness Markeshia Avery told local ABC affiliate WLS.
"They just kept going. After that, we literally scattered away."
Another witness called the scene chaotic.
"We were all just out, and, next thing you know shots just kept going off; everybody ran, and it was chaos," they said.
Zaviar Sheikh who was at the scene also fled at the sound of gunshots.
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"We just heard gunshots; at first it was one, but then it was a whole bunch of gunshots," the witness said.
"After then we started running like, 'yo.' I looked at my friend, and we took off, running like crazy."
The victims were taken to local hospitals.
A witness named Kyria described the police presence at the scene.
"I saw that they had cops laid out at all the entrances like that; I just got back home. Now they got the place all taped up," the witness recalled.
Police remained at the scene until about 8am. They investigated as debris covered the ground after the shooting.
