"All we heard was rounds and rounds of gunfire"; Highland Park Shooting witness shares experience

SPRINGFIELD, Ill (WAND) - What should have been a weekend to celebrate turned into devastation for many. One Springfield resident shares their experience watching the shooting at Highland Park unfold.

"This weekend, my friend's family, they had plans [for an] awesome, you know, weekend for us...Just celebrating the Fourth of July and getting out of town," said SIU student and Springfield native Daniel Franklin. He explained how it all happened.

The parade was going, you know, you had the politicians walking through, you had the band, the high school band happened, and they walked through. And then right afterwards, all we heard was rounds and rounds of gunfire," Franklin said. He couldn't believe what was happening; he thought it was just the sound of fireworks at first. Then, they waited hours for updates and for the shooter to be found.

"We were locked down in a house for hours just watching everything unfold on the news. We locked all the doors and because they're from Highland Park, things, you know, knew spread like wildfire," Franklin said.

Franklin is an youth mentor and education major in school. He says these events make him feel worried for the future generation.

"What can I tell, you know, future children in the classroom? How can I tell them they're safe when I really don't know if we're safe or not?" Franklin said.

WAND spoke with Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, who said this event hits close to home.

"I have taken my children to parades thinking it was going to be a celebration grabbing the blankets, and a picnic basket... just thinking it's going to be a fun afternoon. Instead...in Highland Park instead of being a celebration, it turned into a devastating event where there was senseless gun violence and people who are now dead. Stratton says she wants to get weapons, like the ones legally obtained by the shooter, off the streets.

"What is the purpose of anyone having a military grade weapon in their possession in our communities? A parade is not a war zone," Stratton said. Now, she hopes people can use their voice to make change.

"We are not powerless. We have to band together and demand better for our communities, and quite frankly, for our children," Stratton said.