Dr. David Baum, an obstetrician based in Highland Park, Illinois who was attending the Fourth of July parade there on Monday, ended up helping to treat injuries he called "unspeakable" after a gunman killed at least six people and injured 26 others.
The suspect, 21-year-old Robert Crimo III, allegedly used a legally purchased "high-powered rifle," according to the New York Times, in the attack at the Chicago suburb's annual July 4th celebration.
The gunfire caused "wartime injuries," Baum told CNN's "New Day."
"The people who were killed were killed instantly," the doctor said. "The people who were gone were blown up by that gunfire."
Baum noted that he's seen numerous major wounds as a physician, but said "the power of this gun" caused an "evisceration injury" as well as "an unspeakable head injury" in another victim.
"What I saw was just families' lives forever changed because... somebody who shouldn't have had access to a high-powered rifle got up on a rooftop and decided to do what he wanted to do."
The doctor spoke openly about the need for strict regulations to keep people from accessing the type of gun allegedly used by Crimo and other gunmen in recent shootings like the one that killed 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas in May.
"The horror of what I saw was that this community will never, ever be the same," said Baum. "What I saw was just families' lives forever changed because they were walking down with their kids on their scooters and somebody who shouldn't have had access to a high-powered rifle got up on a rooftop and decided to do what he wanted to do."
He added that he does not understand why Americans can obtain "a weapon that is meant for war." The injuries he saw "are what are seen in victims of war, not victims at a parade," Baum said.
The shooting in Uvalde in May prompted calls from medical professionals and gun control advocates for the release of photos of the injuries caused by AR-15s—the gun used in Uvalde and in a number of other mass shootings in recent years—and similar weapons.
"The problem with this country is the failure to recognize that every week you all are going to a different community with a different Uvalde," Baum told CNN's Jon Berman. "What happened in Texas is horrific. What happened here is horrific."
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Julia Conley.