After news broke midday Monday of the Highland Park mass shooting, as well as the fact that no suspect had been identified or captured, Mayor Dan DiMaria and other officials acted quickly to cancel the remaining events of Morton Grove Days.
The festival is the village’s biggest event of the year, and includes a parade and fireworks, which were also canceled.
DiMaria wrote in an email that he quickly convened a meeting of key village staff and leadership of the event, “who unanimously concurred that all other Morton Grove Days festivities (carnival, entertainment pavilion activities, and fireworks) be canceled out of an abundance of caution and with respect for the loss of life in our neighboring community.”
Morton Grove’s police and fire departments engaged in ongoing discussions with neighboring and regional public safety agencies to provide support if needed and for a coordinated plan of action, the mayor added.
Morton Grove Police Commander Dennis Johnson said when word came of the events cancellations and the unknown status of a killer still on the loose, officers re-deployed to get spectators off Dempster Street and out of Harrer Park. “Many people still did not know about it,” he said of the Highland Park shooting.
The department is well-staffed on the July Fourth holiday when Morton Grove Days are staged, so off-duty personnel did not have to be called in, Johnson said. The full complement of police was needed for traffic and crowd control.
Johnson said his department would not likely have joined in any pursuit of a suspect had he come into the community if other police jurisdictions were already in the chase. Morton Grove’s role would have been blocking off streets to prevent accidents.
Costs were involved in the cancellation of the July Fourth events, which were the first planned full celebrations after two years, due to COVID-19. The village did host a scaled-down festival last Labor Day weekend.
“We had three very successful event days prior to July 4, which will cover most of the Morton Grove Days expenses,” DiMaria said. “However, monetary considerations are meaningless compared to the tragedy, which has impacted Highland Park families and will have a lasting effect on our collective communities.”
Asked whether other events might take place this year, DiMaria responded, “at this time, no additional events are being planned.”
Planning future events, however, now has the extra wrinkle of whether increased security would be a consideration.
“We haven’t discussed that yet, but, yes, I am sure this would play a part in planning for future public events,” Johnson said.