A Big Fat HOAX For the 4th of July - Highland Park Chicago Parade

Video Transcript:

grieving family members and they didn't give their name but they did say that their father was there and her mother. Their mother was there. The father, they think, was shot in the head, critical condition. The mother was graced and they said there were other people there. About that time we kind of got whisked back but in the meantime we found a witness who witnessed it all. This is Gabriela Martinez, Gabriela, from Highwood, you were there, you saw it all pick it up from right before the shots were fired. Well I mean I wasn't really planning to go to the parade just because I'm just like not in the mood of any celebration whatsoever. So yesterday my sister-in-law called me and said like you know we should meet up and go you know to be fun for the kids. So then around 945 I arrived with my daughter, my nine-year-old daughter to the parade and she was very excited to see the parade and I saw my knees. I'm not gonna give her name because I'm not for safety issues and her son, her husband, her newborn baby and we were just talking you know the parade. We had just saw the pet school by and then around 10 or 5 I think the parade started, the official parade started and the fire department went by and then the horses went by and then my son was actually going to be in the band parade but he decided not to go at the left minute so then the marching band passed by and as soon as they passed by like probably three, four minutes later we started hearing which why I thought we're fireworks in the beginning so I didn't really think anything of it and then I kind of planned and started seeing people start panicking and then I looked because I was standing right in front of where uncle Dan's store used to be like right in that corner in the sidewalk sitting right in front of my door. That's central and second, right? central and second and the shooter was one of the shooters was actually on top of the Ross cosmetics buildings aiming towards his, aiming towards his left side which were we were so he was facing that way and the first we all went into panic mode we all ducked down at the beginning and then as soon as I guess he kind of heard like maybe 10 to 20 shots and then I started getting really panicky and really like nervous and then as soon as we didn't, I didn't hear anything I was able to get up and then I grabbed, I started screaming out their names and I saw my daughter I grabbed her and she slipped out of my hands twice and I was just screaming out her name and I honestly lost lost my niece and my her husband and then we were running towards uncle Dan's and I saw I bumped into a 95-year-old lady which I didn't mean to but as soon as I saw her fall like my instinct grabbed her head first and then I shut my daughter into the store and then I grabbed her to get her up and then we ran inside the store and we stood away from all the windows and then we all just like we're gathering towards that corner so that we wouldn't be by the windows and then I started calling like my ex-husband which he arrived within the next five minutes to go get us I call my mom my sister people that were going to go to the parade not to show up Gabriella you you kind of described to me earlier about the shooter I know it was just chaos but can you describe exactly what you saw with the shooter and the gun well I mean I well I mean I didn't really see like who he was I mean I just saw a person with a gun shooting towards us and I just glance real quick so it's just like okay it is happening so that's when I started to start getting to a panning people that it was a shooting it was not fireworks earlier you said he was a Caucasian what I was once we got into my maybe my baby's a house like my my friends house everybody on Facebook was kind of like describing him now that he was Caucasian but I care we still not sure because he's still at arm I guess it was two shooters now that I heard because well this is just rumors so I will say that we do not have that confirmed as far as to me one that I saw that I witnessed that I that I was there but injuries wounds did you see anything your niece is okay she was scraped I mean the two ladies that were in our left side got shot in their legs because we were in they were in the store with us when the paramedics came in and asked if anybody in here were injured or wound and we did point it out at the two ladies that were sitting in the little bench that were had little gunshot wounds in their legs I'm not I'm assuming that wasn't the big rifle or a big gun or else it would have been like really nasty you know but they're they were just like normal like gunshot wounds in their legs but as you had mentioned earlier it was rapid fire not that we all know what type of gun you buy those little like pop it things and you start slamming them in the ground that's what it was sounding like does that's why we all thought it was like fireworks because that's how it sounded like little like pop things but it was it was just I mean in that in that moment like you really don't don't think I guess because I was the oh all I was thinking is my baby my baby and if I was trying to shield her with my body and if God forbid we got shot I wanted to be shot first obviously because I mean as a mother you just want to protect your child you haven't had a chance for it to sink in but it's got to be hard to believe this was happening yeah I mean you you're reading about it you're hearing it your kids are not even saving school and like now it like public parade second now maybe a fire works like just don't go out if you don't have to go out it's just scary I mean not in a million years what I thought it would be involving a shooting you got up this morning going to a parade even like I was getting up like not even in the mood of doing it but my daughter was like mom let's go mom please like I you told me yes we were gonna go and she's one of those little girls and obviously if you tell her something she's not gonna forget so I was like okay fine let's go you know let's get up and I thought it was gonna be a good day because I actually had only like five to $10 worth of cash in my pocket to put gas in there and a lady I don't know where it filled up my tank so it was like a blessing so I'm like okay it's gonna be a good day because now I have an angel that filled up my tank which I haven't filled in a year because of all this going on and the gas going up and for her to fill up my tank which was $90 I was like okay it's gonna be a good day then and then this happens how is your daughter doing have you had a chance to talk to her she I was so amazed at how brave she handled the things she was actually the one call me me down because I was crying and nervous wreck and then a panic attack and she was like mom it's okay we're okay but I mean she I did see her fear in her eyes but my little girl she's she's very brave she's very Alamartina thank you so much for sharing this awful story and thank you for helping she helped a 95-year-old woman escape any kind of harm they all went into this one room that used to be Uncle Dan's it is now another outdoor outrigger but several people were were there in the meantime we are waiting to hear from the