Remembering the victims of the Highland Park July 4 shooting
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Belongings are shown left behind at the scene of the mass shooting along the route of a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Ill. Photo: Mark Borenstein/Getty Images
A shooter fired into a crowd at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, on Monday, leading horrified spectators and parade members to run for their lives.
The big picture: At least seven people were killed in the mass shooting and two dozen others were injured.
- "When it started happening, I thought it was the Navy saluting the flag," Alexander Sandoval, a lifelong resident of Highland Park, told the New York Times.
- "Then I grabbed my kid and we ran and tried to break a store window to get away from it."
- Monday's shooting was the 15th this month in which at least four people were fatally shot in the U.S., according to the nonprofit research group the Gun Violence Archive.
Here's what we know so far about the victims:
Jacki Sundheim, 63, was a lifelong member of the North Shore Congregation Israel, coordinating events and also working as a preschool teacher, the Chicago Tribune reports.
- A message from the synagogue said Sundheim's "work, kindness and warmth touched us all" and that she guided “innumerable among us through life’s moments of joy and sorrow, all of this with tireless dedication."
Nicolas Toledo, 78, moved from Mexico to Highland Park a few months ago, per the New York Times.
- “We brought him over here so he could have a better life," Xochil Toledo, his granddaughter, said. "His sons wanted to take care of him and be more in his life, and then this tragedy happened."
- Toledo didn't want to attend the parade, but his disabilities require him to be around someone full time, per the Times. "We were all in shock," Xochil Toledo said of the shooting. “We thought it was part of the parade.”
- "We realized our grandfather was hit. We saw blood and everything splattered onto us."
Irina McCarthy, 35, was the mother of a 2-year-old child, Aiden, who was separated from his parents during the shooting, CBS News reports. The child was not injured in the shooting.
Kevin McCarthy, 37, was the father of Aiden. A GoFundMe page says Aiden's grandparents will look after him now.
- "At two years old, Aiden is left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents," the page description reads.
Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park, was a father of two and a grandfather of four, per the New York Times.
- Straus, a financial advisor, took the train every day from Highland Park to his office in Chicago.
- “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.”
Katherine Goldstein, 64, was from Highland Park.
- The name of the seventh victim, who died Tuesday at a local hospital, has not been released.
Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Go deeper... 7 dead in mass shooting at Highland Park July 4 parade
