Highland Park parade shooting: What we know about the victims, suspect, community and aftermath

Chicago Tribune staff, Chicago Tribune
·8 min read
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On an idyllic summer morning, from a rooftop high above the Highland Park Independence Day parade, a gunman aimed down at the floats and lawn chairs and strollers and opened fire. The high school marching band’s members sprinted for their lives, still carrying their flutes and saxophones. Bystanders scooped up young children and fled. In all, seven people were killed.

After an hourslong search, authorities arrested 21-year-old Robert “Bobby” Crimo III. A day later, he was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder in what Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart called a “premeditated and calculated attack.”

Here’s what we know about the shooting, the victims, the suspect, the community and the aftermath.

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The shooting

The first popping noises sounded like firecrackers or maybe a gun salute honoring the American flag.

Then someone screamed, “There’s a shooter.” And, in an instant, everyone understood the reality. They grabbed their children under their arms and ran. They left behind strollers, lawn chairs, cellphones and purses. They took only what mattered.

“People were terrified, screaming,” Highland Park resident Joe Leslie said. “It was a scene from a nightmare.”

It’s a story witnesses to the deadly shooting at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade told over and over again in the hours after the tragedy. In painful, chilling detail they recounted how someone opened fire during an annual community celebration, killing at least six people, injuring more than two dozen and leaving an entire town traumatized. Read more here.

The victims

The parents of a toddler. A father of eight and a grandfather to many. A synagogue employee known for her kindness. A family man who loved the arts.

A mass shooting during the Highland Park Independence Day parade claimed the lives of seven people and left some two dozen others injured, ranging in age from 8 to 85 years old. Read more here.

Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park

Katie Goldstein, whose neighbors describe her as “welcoming” and “lovely,” brought them baked goods during the holidays.

One of her daughters, 22-year-old Cassie Goldstein, was with her at the parade, she told NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt in an interview. They wanted to get out of the house to have some fun because Katie Goldstein was mourning the death of her own mother.

Irina McCarthy, 35 and Kevin McCarthy, 37, of Highland Park

Toddler Aiden McCarthy was found wandering alone in the chaotic aftermath as strangers sought to reunite him with his family. A day later, it emerged that the parents of 2-year-old Aiden, Irina and Kevin McCarthy, were among the seven people killed.

Aiden’s grandfather, Michael Levberg, told the Tribune that he was eventually reunited with his grandson after Aiden was taken to the local police station.

“When I picked him up, he said, ‘Are Mommy and Daddy coming soon?” Levberg said Tuesday evening. “He doesn’t understand.”

Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park

Steve Straus, 88, was an exceptional joke-teller, an avid reader and a “culture vulture” who enjoyed the artistic fruits of the Art Institute and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, family members said. Energetic beyond his years, Straus commuted on Metra five days a week to his office downtown, where he worked as a stockbroker.

Straus, said his son Peter Straus, was “very curious about the world.”

Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park

Jacquelyn Sundheim was a longtime employee and lifelong member of North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, where she taught preschool and helped coordinate events like bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings.

The nature of Sundheim’s work meant that she touched many lives, fellow congregant Lauren Absler said.

“Every life cycle event, you shared with Jacki. Whether it was a baby naming or a bat mitzvah or a wedding, you planned that with her,” Absler said. “We cannot remember a time when we walked into the sanctuary and she wasn’t standing at the door to greet people.”

Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico

Nicolas Toledo arrived a few months ago from his native Morelos, Mexico, to spend time with his family after retiring several years ago. The father of eight and grandfather to many, was killed in the mass shooting that has left not only the Toledo family but an entire community traumatized.

He was a loving man, his granddaughter Xochil Toledo wrote on a GoFundMe page created by the family to collect funds for the funeral expenses.

“But today Nicolas is our guardian angel,” Xochil Toledo added. “We ask you (to) please keep our family and all the families of this horrible tragedy in your prayers and stay strong as a community.”

Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan

The family of Eduardo Uvaldo prayed for a miracle after the grandfather was shot. His daughters, on social media, pleaded with others to join them in prayer, sharing a photo of Uvaldo sitting in front of the Louvre in Paris, wearing a blue shirt and a soft smile.

But Uvaldo didn’t make it and requests for prayers for a miracle turned into prayers for strength for the family he leaves behind.

The suspect

Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, 21, is charged with seven counts of first-degree murder in what Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart called a “premeditated and calculated attack.”

Crimo planned the parade attack for weeks, police and prosecutors allege, then climbed a fire escape ladder to the roof of a building and fired as the Independence Day parade was in full swing. The gun that was used in the attack was purchased legally in Illinois by Crimo, authorities said.

Attorneys for Crimo entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment after a grand jury indicted him on 117 felony counts.

In all, about 45 people were either killed or injured during the attack, authorities said. Read more here.

The community

Highland Park, located on the North Shore of Chicago, sits between the suburbs of Highwood and Glencoe.

On the Fourth of July, after a gunman killed and wounded dozens during the holiday parade here, social media was alive with expressions of shock and grief, outpourings of sympathy and surprise at where this happened ― but also reminders that Highland Park is one of the wealthiest suburbs in America. But actually, Glencoe, to its south, is much richer. And Highwood, to its north, has a poverty rate only slightly above Chicago’s.

Comparably, Highland Park is well-off. Pretty wealthy, just not as uniform as some of the suburbs that surround Highland Park. It is a town shouldering some misconceptions — of what a Midwest suburb looks like now, and what sheltered still means. Read more here.

The aftermath

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering continued to call for a federal ban on assault-style weapons Monday during the City Council’s first meeting since the Independence Day mass shooting.

Following a moment of silence at the start of the meeting, Rotering, sometimes tearfully, sometimes angrily, summed up her efforts to lobby federal officials to institute the sort of ban Highland Park itself imposed nearly a decade ago. Read more here.