Today in Highland Park

Highland Park is not Chicago. It is a 40-minute drive and a lifestyle away. From the 2020 census:

• Median income: $150,250

• Average home value: $585,000 (Think Home Alone and Ferris Bueller's Day Off)

• 75% of the adult residents have a bachelor's degree or better

• It's 85% white, 8% Hispanic, 3% Asian-American 

One thing I keep hearing on the news, over and over, from Highland Park residents is, "This can't happen here." Well, today it did. At least 6 are dead and more than 30 have been hospitalized after a young man opened fire at their 4th of July Parade.

Highland Park Hospital does not have a Trauma 1 Center. Many of the victims have been stabilized in the hometown hospital and then moved to nearby hospitals with appropriate facilities.

Highland Park is in Lake County. Chicago is in Cook County. In Chicago and Cook County, high-capacity rifles are illegal. Lake County's laws are more lax.

While the rifle has been found, as I write this, more than 5 hours after the carnage, the shooter is still on the loose. I bet he will turn out to be a resident. Highland Park is not a town where it would be easy for an outsider to hide himself from the local police and now the FBI.

Do not tell me the answer to the gun problem is "good guys with guns." This was their 4th of July parade. There was a high police presence, and this happened anyway.

My heart is broken. Nowhere is safe. While Highland Park is not where I'd ever want to live -- I believe in diversity -- I know people who live there, and people who aspire to live there. It's the North Shore! For many it's the American Dream to live in safe, upscale Highland Park.

And today, during a 4th of July parade, a bit of that American Dream died.