Couple with young child, former preschool teacher, grandfather among Highland Park fatalities
Jessica Schladebeck, Joseph Wilkinson
A married couple who left behind a toddler, a former preschool teacher and a 78-year-old grandfather were among those killed when a gunman opened fire during a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago.
Scores of revelers were gathered together to enjoy the Independence Day festivities when gunfire erupted in Highland Park, Ill., on Monday around 10 a.m. Five people died at the scene of the shooting. Another later succumbed to wounds at a hospital, and another person died on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to seven.
Law enforcement conduct a search after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb on Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement conduct a search after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb on Monday, July 4, 2022. (Nam Y. Huh/)
Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were there with their 2-year-old son Aiden. The boy was unharmed.
Aiden McCarthy will be cared for by his grandparents, according to a GoFundMe page.
Jacki Sundheim, a 63-year-old dedicated congregant and worker at her synagogue in Glencoe, was among those killed in the violence. The North Shore Congregation Israel remembered her in a statement as a “lifelong” congregant and “cherished” staffer, who was dedicated to teaching and sharing her beliefs with others.
“Jacki’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all, from her early days teaching at the Gates of Learning Preschool to guiding innumerable among us through life’s moments of joy and sorrow as our Events and B’nei Mitzvah Coordinator — all of this with tireless dedication,” the statement reads.
Two police officers stand their at post the day after a deadly mass shooting on the Westside of Highland Park, Ill. on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, as the American flag flies at half-staff on the Eastside. A shooter fired on an Independence Day parade from a rooftop, spraying the crowd with gunshots initially mistaken for fireworks before hundreds of panicked revelers of all ages fled in terror.
Elliot Lieberman gathers his folding chairs one day after a mass shooting in downtown Highland Park, Ill. on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. A shooter fired on an Independence Day parade from a rooftop spraying the crowd with gunshots initially mistaken for fireworks before hundreds of panicked revelers of all ages fled in terror.
This undated handout photo provided by the City of Highland Park Police Department shows Robert (Bobby) E. Crimo III. Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said Monday, July 4, 2022, that police have identified 22-year-old Crimo as a person of interest in an Independence Day parade shooting in suburban Chicago.
Empty chairs are seen on the street after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, on Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement conduct a search after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, on Monday, July 4, 2022.
Students are escorted by police officers as they cross under police tape after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, on Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement search after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, on Monday, July 4, 2022.
A police officer reacts as he walks in downtown Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, Monday, July 4, 2022, where a mass shooting took place at a Highland Park Fourth of July parade.
In this still image from video, a man runs for cover with a child in a stroller after gunfire was heard at the Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Monday morning, July 4, 2022.
Police search the downtown area of the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Ill., after a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade Monday, July 4, 2022.
Police search the downtown area in Highland Park after a shooting at a Fourth of July parade, Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement search in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement search in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement search in a building after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb on Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement search after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb on Monday, July 4, 2022.
Police officers cross under police tape at the scene of a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in a suburb of Chicago, Monday, July 4, 2022.
Law enforcement search in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, Monday, July 4, 2022.
First responders work the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. Reports indicate at least five people were killed and 19 injured in the mass shooting.
Chairs and blankets are left abandoned after a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois.
First responders work the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois.
First responders work the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois.
First responders work the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois.
First responders work the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois.
First responders work the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois.
“There are no words sufficient to express the depth of our grief for Jacki’s death and sympathy for her family and loved ones. We know you join us in the deepest prayer that Jacki’s soul will be bound up in the shelter of God’s wings and her family will somehow find comfort and consolation amid this boundless grief.”
Nicolas Toledo, a 78-year-old man originally from Mexico, was also identified among those killed. He was a father and leaves behind eight grandchildren.
“My grandpa was a funny man. He’d always joke around and be playful with his grandkids,” his grandson, David Toledo, told ABC News in a statement.
“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.”
Lake County coroner Jennifer Banek also identified two other victims at a press conference Tuesday afternoon: Katherine Goldstein, 64, and Stephen Straus, 88. Five of the six identified victims were Highland Park residents, Banek said. Toledo often traveled back and forth between the U.S. and Mexico.
The seventh victim, whose death was first reported Tuesday afternoon, died at a hospital in Cook County, authorities said. The person had been taken to a hospital in Evanston, a couple towns south of Highland Park.
In honor of those killed in the mass shooting, President Biden on Tuesday ordered all flags to be lowered to half-staff through Saturday.
