Vice President Kamala Harris visits Highland Park, calls deadly mass shooting "absolutely senseless"
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Vice President Kamala Harris visited Highland Park on Tuesday, telling the community still reeling from Monday's deadly mass shooting "we're here for you and we stand with you," after seven people were killed and dozens more were wounded.
"I'm so sorry for what you all have experienced, and the pain, the suffering. This should never have happened. We talk about it being senseless. It is senseless. It is absolutely senseless," Harris said Tuesday evening.
Harris' visit to Highland Park came just hours after prosecutors announced murder charges against the shooter, and said more charges are coming.
"This person will be brought to justice, but it's not going to undo what happened," she said.
Harris said the White House will continue to ensure Highland Park has any federal resources it needs for the investigation, and for victims and their families and loved ones to cope with what happened.
"We're here for you and we stand with you," she said. "I want for you that you hold each other tight as a community, that you know that you have a whole nation who cares deeply about you, and stands with you."
"There's a lot of healing that's going to have to happen; that is both physical and emotional. There is no question that this experience is something that is going to linger in terms of the trauma," she added.
As Harris and President Joe Biden have done after previous mass shootings, the vice president called for stricter gun laws to avoid such tragedies in the future.
"We've got to be smarter as a country in terms of who has access to what, and in particular assault weapons. We've got to take this stuff seriously; as seriously as you all, because you have been forced to have to take it seriously. The whole nation should understand, and have a level of empathy to understand that this can happen anywhere, in any peace-loving community, and we should stand together and speak out about why it's got to stop," she said.
