Grandfather identified among six victims killed in shooting at Highland Park July 4 parade

One of the six people killed in a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, during a Fourth of July parade has been identified by their family.

Nicolas Toledo was reportedly one of the individuals killed in the shooting, according to his family.

Members of Mr Toledo's family spoke with reporter Tim McNicholas of CBS Chicago.

“We are all feeling pretty numb. We’re all pretty broken inside,” his granddaughter said.

Police have launched a massive manhunt for the shooter, who is still at large. The public has been advised by local police to inform the FBI of any information they may have regarding the shooter.

Witnesses and police said the shooter was a male between the aged of 18 and 20 with long black hair. The shooter reportedly began firing from the roof of a clothing store using a "high powered rifle", according to police. Law enforcement said the shooter used a ladder attached to a building to access the roof.

Initial witness reports suggest the shooter fired between 20 to 25 shots.

At least 25 people were injured as a result of the shooting, though it is unclear how many were shot and how many were injured in the chaos following the shooting. One of the individuals critically injured was a child, police said.

Law enforcement said that bystanders helped tie tourniquets after the shooting, which helped firefighters and first responders treat the wounded.

The Highland Park police had units at the parade working security. They reportedly moved toward the shooter shortly after he began firing, after which the shooter dropped his weapon and began to flee.

Several nearby neighborhoods have been locked down following the shooting as police continue to hunt for the gunman.

"Our community has been terrorized by an act of violence that’s shaken us to our core," Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said in a statement.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said he was "closely monitoring" the situation and said that his office would "continue working with local officials to help those affected."

President Joe Biden has also spoken on the shooting, saying that he and the first lady were "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day”.

"I recently signed the first major bipartisan gun reform legislation in almost thirty years into law, which includes actions that will save lives," he said. "But there is much more work to do, and I’m not going to give up fighting the epidemic of gun violence."

The violent scene marks the 309th mass shooting in 2022. The Gun Violence Archive, an independent data collection organisation, defines a "mass shooting" as a shooting in which at least four people are injured or killed, excluding the shooter.

Mass shootings have been on the rise over the last several years, with 692 in 2021 and 610 in 2020. The US is averaging more than 11 mass shooting a week, putting it on course to possibly break last year's record.