Full Text of HJR0097 102nd General Assembly
HJ0097 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On Monday, July 4, 2022, the City of Highland | 3 | | Park and thousands of its residents and neighbors gathered for | 4 | | its annual Fourth of July parade; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, For generations, Highland Park has hosted this | 6 | | parade, one of the largest Fourth of July gatherings in the | 7 | | northern suburbs of Chicago; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, At 10:14 a.m., tragedy struck as an alleged lone | 9 | | gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at the | 10 | | intersection of 2nd Street and Central Avenue in downtown | 11 | | Highland Park; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, In less than one minute, the assailant shot 83 | 13 | | bullets into the crowd, killing 7 and injuring dozens; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, As residents ran from the gunfire, placed their | 15 | | bodies over their loved ones, and sought safety, first | 16 | | responders who had come to watch the parade put themselves in | 17 | | harm's way; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members | 19 | | and community volunteers rushed to the scene and bravely | 20 | | worked side by side with fire and police personnel and medical |
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| 1 | | professionals, helping to save lives through their quick | 2 | | action; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Law enforcement officers from Highland Park and | 4 | | hundreds of others throughout the State of Illinois and at all | 5 | | levels of government worked together to quickly secure | 6 | | downtown Highland Park and later apprehend the suspect; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Mayor Nancy Rotering admirably and strongly led | 8 | | the grieving Highland Park community in the minutes | 9 | | immediately after the shooting and in the weeks and months | 10 | | following the shooting, as the international community looked | 11 | | to her leadership; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, City Manager Ghida Neukirch selflessly ran to the | 13 | | scene of the shooting to provide first aid to gunshot victims, | 14 | | going far above and beyond her duties and providing | 15 | | extraordinary care to the Highland Park community in the | 16 | | moments following the shooting; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Physicians, nurses, and other staff raced to | 18 | | Highland Park Hospital to assist the injured, some coming | 19 | | straight from the parade, doing incredible work under intense | 20 | | and difficult circumstances; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Hundreds of therapists, counselors, and social |
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| 1 | | workers have supported those experiencing trauma from what | 2 | | they witnessed during and after the shooting; therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 4 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 5 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we mourn the lives lost at the | 6 | | hands of gunfire in the City of Highland Park on July 4, 2022 | 7 | | and all those around the State of Illinois who have been lost | 8 | | to gun violence and recognize the surviving families that live | 9 | | with the trauma of their losses; and be it further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That we especially remember the lives of | 11 | | Katherine Goldstein, Irina McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, Stephen | 12 | | Straus, Jacqueline Sundheim, Nicholas Toledo-Zaragoza, and | 13 | | Eduardo Uvaldo; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That we honor the City of Highland Park and its | 15 | | law enforcement, first responders, and community leaders for | 16 | | their service to the people of Illinois; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That we urge leaders to continue to do | 18 | | everything in their power to ensure no other community | 19 | | experiences the trauma of gun violence, so that this horrific | 20 | | tragedy shall not be in vain; and be it further
| 21 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| 1 | | delivered to the City of Highland Park.
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