3 injured in shooting at amusement park near Chicago

According to an initial investigation, police said a white sedan entered the parking lot and drove toward the park’s front entrance. (File/Shutterstock)
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Updated 15 August 2022
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3 injured in shooting at amusement park near Chicago

GURNEE, Illinois:Three people were injured in a shooting in the parking lot of an amusement park north of Chicago that sent visitors scrambling for safety, authorities said.
Officers responded about 7:50 p.m. Sunday after 911 calls reporting shots fired at Six Flags Great America, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Chicago, the Gurnee Police Department said.
“The shooting ... was not a random act, and appeared to be a targeted incident that occurred outside the park,” police said in statement posted to Facebook.
According to an initial investigation, police said a white sedan entered the parking lot and drove toward the park’s front entrance. People got out of the car and shot at another person in the parking lot before driving away, police said.
Additional detail about the suspects, including the number of people who fired shots, wasn’t immediately released. Police were investigating.
A 17-year-old boy from Aurora, Illinois, had a thigh wound and a 19-year-old woman from Appleton, Wisconsin, had a leg wound, police said. They were taken to a hospital and their wounds were described as non-life-threatening. A third victim had a shoulder injury and declined to be taken to a hospital.
In a statement, Six Flags Great America said park security responded immediately along with Gurnee officers.
WGN News in Chicago spoke with Laurie Walker and her daughter, Grace, who were inside the park when the shooting occurred. Walker said they were waiting in line for an attraction around 7:50 p.m. when she noticed people running.
“There is an active shooter, get down, get down,” Walker said she heard someone shouting. “We didn’t know what was going on, so we get down.”
Walker and her daughter climbed two fences to get where she could call her husband. Walker told WGN she was able to leave the park a short while later.
Gurnee is in Lake County, about 5 miles south of the Wisconsin border. It’s about 20 miles north of Highland Park, where seven people died in a mass shooting during a July Fourth parade.


Beijing vows ‘measures’ after CIA Chinese-language recruitment ad

Updated 10 sec ago
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Beijing vows ‘measures’ after CIA Chinese-language recruitment ad

  • Chinese-language video appears to target disaffected officers and appeals for information on China’s leaders and armed forces
  • China’s foreign ministry condemns what it called ‘anti-China forces’ and vows action to protect national security
BEIJING: Beijing will take “all necessary measures” against foreign espionage activities, the foreign ministry said Friday, after the US spy agency issued a recruitment video targeting Chinese military personnel.
The CIA’s Chinese-language video, published on the agency’s YouTube channel on Thursday, appears to target disaffected officers and appeals for information on China’s leaders and armed forces.
China’s foreign ministry condemned what it called “anti-China forces” and vowed action to protect national security.
“China will take all necessary measures to resolutely combat infiltration and sabotage activities of foreign anti-China forces and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference when asked about the CIA video.
He did not provide any details on the measures Beijing could take.
The video depicts a fictional Chinese officer deciding to contact the US intelligence agency after concluding that “the only thing leaders are protecting is their own interest” and that “their power is based on countless lies.”
It shows the officer at home with his family, then driving past a checkpoint in pouring rain before taking out a laptop in the car and typing on it as he says: “Picking this path is my way of fighting for my family and my country.”
Chinese text accompanying the clip appeals for leaks on Beijing’s leaders and military as well as other areas.
“Do you have information about high-ranking Chinese leaders? Are you a military officer or have dealings with the military? Do you work in intelligence, diplomacy, economics, science, or advanced technology fields, or deal with people working in these fields?”
“Please contact us. We want to understand the truth,” the text says, adding that the CIA can be contacted “securely through our Tor hidden service.”
The latest appeal came after the agency released a number of videos last year that its Director John Ratcliffe said were aimed at recruiting Chinese officials.
They are “just one of many ways that we’re adjusting our tradecraft,” Ratcliffe said.
Beijing condemned the posts at the time as “naked political provocation,” saying Washington “not only maliciously smears and attacks China, but also openly deceives and lures Chinese personnel to surrender.”