Teen girl recognized danger during Highland Park parade thanks to active shooter drills at school

A 13-year-old girl at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade did not mistake the sounds of gunfire for fireworks, like many others in attendance.

The teen was enjoying the summer holiday with family on Monday when a series of distinct pops cut through the sounds of celebration in the affluent Chicago suburb. Steven Tilken, her grandmother’s husband, told CNN he thought the noise at first was part of the festivities, but that the girl, who had just undergone active shooter drills at school, immediately recognized the danger.

Law enforcement search after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb on Monday. (Nam Y. Huh/)

She “all of a sudden hit the ground sobbing,” and brought her brother with her, Tilken recalled.

“My wife just stood there — was standing for like a second or two — and then she realized what was going and so she dove down to protect their bodies with her body and I stood for another like couple of seconds in disbelief because I didn’t see the carnage that was happening aback of me,” he said. “And I threw my body on top of theirs.”

They were still in the line of fire however and managed to flee to a nearby store, where they sheltered in a basement.

“We were just sitting ducks right there and one bullet could pass through all of our bodies,” he said. “I realized ... it’s just your random luck that I wasn’t shot.”

Members of the FBI's evidence response team organize one day after a mass shooting in downtown Highland Park, Ill. Tuesday, July 5, 2022. (Charles Rex Arbogast/)

About 20 other people were hiding out with them.

“My wife’s granddaughter, she was shaken but in the basement, she, you know, tapped into some inner resources and was trying to be helpful to people with young kids and helping keeping the kids entertained and actually helping the two woman that had some of the minor wounds,” Tilken said.

At one point, he stepped outside in bid to better understand what had just happened. About eight feet from the door, Tilken saw a body “in a pool of blood.”

Police carrying assault weapons later entered the basement seeking out the gunman. They also brought a doctor to assess those with injuries.

Hours after the shooting, which left seven people dead, authorities arrested Robert Crimo III, who has not yet been formally charged.