These Are The Victims Of The July 4 Highland Park, Illinois Shooting

At least seven people were killed and about two dozen others, including several children, were taken to hospitals.
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A July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, turned deadly Monday after a gunman opened fire from a rooftop, killing at least seven people and injuring more than two dozen others.

Robert E. Crimo III, 21, was on the loose before police managed to arrest him later that night.

Six of the victims died at the scene, and a seventh person died in the hospital, Lake County police spokesperson Christopher Covelli said at a news conference, according to WGN-TV.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden issued a statement responding to the shooting.

“Jill and I are shocked by the senseless gun violence that has yet again brought grief to an American community on this Independence Day,” Biden said in a news release from the White House. “As always, we are grateful for the first responders and law enforcement on the scene.”

Below are the names of the victims and their stories. (The identity of the seventh victim has not yet been released since they weren’t in Lake County at the time of their death, according to WMAQ-TV.) This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Nicolas Toledo

Nicolas Toledo, a 78-year-old who split his time between Mexico and the U.S., had spent the past few months in Illinois visiting family.

Though Toledo was not keen on attending the parade at first, his granddaughter Xochil Toledo told the Chicago Sun-Times they did not want to leave him home alone so they decided to all go as a group.

Toledo had been in a car accident in Highland Park a few years prior and was suffering from health issues as a result, according to The New York Times.

Xochil Toledo said the family was watching the bands playing at the parade before the gunshots began.

“We were all in shock,” Toledo told the Times. “We thought it was part of the parade.”

“We realized our grandfather was hit,” Xochil Toledo added. “We saw blood and everything splattered onto us.”

Her grandfather, who was in a wheelchair, was struck three times and died on the spot. Other family members, including Xochil’s boyfriend and her father, were also injured.

“He’d always joke around and be playful with his grandkids,” he said. “He arrived [in] the U.S. in the ’80s and worked around the Highland Park area for many years. He spent his last days swimming and fishing and being among family.”

Jacquelyn Sundheim

Jacki Sundheim, 63, a staff member and congregant of the North Shore Congregation Israel, was among those killed during Monday’s shooting, the synagogue said in a statement Monday.

“It is with immeasurable sadness that we let you know that our beloved Jacki Sundheim was one of the victims murdered today at the Highland Park Parade,” the congregation wrote on its website.

“Jacki’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all,” the statement said.

Stephen Straus

Stephen Straus, a financial advisor, was a family-oriented man who commuted every day from his home in Highland Park to his office in Chicago.

Straus’s son, Peter, told the Chicago Tribune that his 88-year-old father was “very curious about the world” and had enjoyed the Chicago arts world.

“He was an honorable man who worked his whole life and looked out for his family and gave everyone the best he had,” his niece, Cynthia Straus, told The New York Times. “He was kind and gentle and had huge intelligence and humor and wit.”

Kevin and Irina McCarthy

Kevin and Irina McCarthy, who lived in Highland Park, were both killed in Monday’s shooting. Irina was 35, Kevin was 37.

Lauren Silva, a woman who was near the parade route at the time of the shooting, told The New York Times and the Daily Beast that her boyfriend and son found the McCarthys’ son pinned beneath an unresponsive man. According to Silva, the boy repeatedly asked if his parents were OK.

CBS News reported that the McCarthys’ son, Aiden, is 2 years old.

Members of the family set up a GoFundMe to help support Aiden.

“At two years old, Aiden is left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents,” the campaign said. “Aiden will be cared for by his loving family and he will have a long road ahead to heal, find stability, and ultimately navigate life as an orphan. He is surrounded by a community of friends and extended family that will embrace him with love, and any means available to ensure he has everything he needs as he grows.”

Katherine Goldstein

Katherine Goldstein, 64, was a mother of two daughters and an avid bird watcher, her husband Craig Goldstein told The New York Times.

Friends remembered her as a keen conversationalist who enjoyed connecting friends as well as a master cook who loved to test new recipes, per The Washington Post.

“She was the most wonderful young woman,” Williams Mbengue, who met Goldstein decades ago in New York City, told the Post. “She’s wonderful. She’s kind. She’s just very thoughtful. She’s always soft-spoken.”

Goldstein attended the parade on Monday with her eldest daughter, Cassie, so she could reconnect with friends from high school, the Times reported.

Craig Goldstein told the Times that his wife wanted to be cremated and have her ashes scattered in a Chicago neighborhood where there is a bird sanctuary.

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