Chicago shooting: Man arrested over Independence Day parade shooting

A man who was arrested following the mass shooting at a July 4 parade in Chicago has been identified as verified Spotify artist Awake The Rapper.

Robert E Crimo III has several albums and EPs uploaded to the streaming giant, the latest of which was released earlier this year.

Titled Brainwashed, the track-list includes songs named Dead Again and I Am the Storm.

Empty chairs and an American flag blanket lie on the ground after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, a suburb in Chicago. Picture: AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Police publicly identified Crimo after he was arrested on Monday evening following a brief pursuit in suburban Chicago.

At least six people were killed during the incident and dozens more were injured.

Crimo’s Facebook and Instagram pages had been removed by the time police released his name, with his YouTube channel also later removed.

A series of videos uploaded by Crimo have remained online, having been reuploaded after his channels were deactivated.

The video for his song Toy Soldier features a stick-figure animation of a man firing a gun at people and later lying in a pool of blood after apparently being shot by police.

Crimo also has an IMDb page that lists him as the writer, director, composer, producer and actor in a pair of music videos.

In another he raps in a set resembling a small classroom, which features the sounds of gunshots and maniacal laughter.

On Spotify Crimo has uploaded three albums titled Messages, Observer and Awake the Rapper, and three singles along with his Brainwashed EP.

His most played song, By the Pond, has racked up over two million listens.