Wednesday 6 July 2022 10:09 AM Mourners hold vigil at dusk for the Highland Park dead after rooftop gunman ... trends now
Hundreds of mourners have gathered at dusk to hold a vigil for those killed in the Highland Park mass shooting.
The grieving relatives, friends and neighbors of the victims lit candles, laid down flowers on the floor and wrote tributes on Tuesday evening at a memorial near the parade route where the fatal shooting occurred on July 4th.
Members of the community hugged each other during the vigil, with some breaking down after becoming overcome with emotion following Monday's shooting.
Others wrote the names of the victims alongside tributes on colorful pieces of cloth that were tied to a railing.
At least seven people were killed and dozens more were injured after 21-year-old shooter Robert Crimo opened fire on the Independence Day parade with an AR-15 style weapon.
On Tuesday evening, Lake County State Attorney Eric Rinehart said Crimo had been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. He said 'dozens' more charges would follow, and that he hopes to send Crimo to prison for life.
Hundreds of mourners have gathered at dusk to hold a vigil for those killed in the Highland Park mass shooting
The grieving relatives, friends and neighbors of the victims lit candles, laid down flowers on the floor and wrote tributes on Tuesday evening at a memorial near the parade route where the fatal shooting occurred on July 4th
Dozens of mourners gather for a vigil near Central Avenue and St. Johns Avenue in downtown Highland Park on Tuesday
Community members embrace at a memorial site near the parade route following the mass shooting on Tuesday
Community members gather at a memorial site near the parade route the day after a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, on Tuesday
A girl lays down a candle amongst flowers and signs at the memorial site for those killed in the mass shooting
Others wrote the names of the victims alongside tributes on colorful pieces of cloth that were tied to a railing
Community members embrace at a memorial site near the parade route the day after the mass shooting
Two teenagers watch on in shock as people gather for the vigil for those killed in the mass shooting in Highland Park
Among the victims were Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, whose two-year-old son was found at the scene bloodied and alone.
'At two years old, Aiden is left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents,' wrote Irina Colon on a GoFundMe account she created for the family and Aiden, who was reunited with his grandparents Monday evening. The account has since raised nearly $2million for Aiden.
Friends of the McCarthys said Irina's parents will care for the boy going forward.
Four of other others who were killed were identified Tuesday as Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78. Every victim was from Highland Park except for Toledo-Zaragoza, who was visiting family in the city from Morelos, Mexico.
Officials haven't yet identified the seventh victim, who died of their injuries on Tuesday.
Two-year-old Aiden McCarthy (pictured) was left orphaned Monday after his parents were both killed during the Highland Park parade shooting
Six of the seven people killed in the Highland Park Fourth of July massacre were identified by authorities on Tuesday.
The victims include Steve Straus, 88; Katherine Baldstein, 64; Jacki Sondheim, 63; Nicholas Toledo Zaragoza, 78; and husband and wife Irina and Kevin McCarthy, 35 and 37.
The McCarthys leave behind a two-year-old son, Aiden, who was found wandering alone in the aftermath of the shooting.
The death toll rose to seven after one of the 47 injured died in hospital on Tuesday afternoon, a day after 22-year-old Robert Crimo opened fire on the parade in Highland Park, an affluent suburban city just north of Chicago. The injured count now stands at 46.
The release of most of the victims' names comes after a doctor who rushed into the carnage described the shooting victims as being 'blown up' by the attacker's high-powered weapon.
Dr. David Baum, a long time obstetrician in Highland Park, was attending the parade with his wife and children to watch his two-year-old grandson participate. When the shots rang out and others fled, he ran into the fray to try to help the victims.
In an interview with CNN, Baum described seeing victims with 'wartime' and 'unspeakable' injuries.
Katherine Goldstein, pictured left, was among seven people killed following Monday's July 4 massacre in Highland Park, Illinois
Steve Straus, 88 (right) was among the seven people who were killed during the Highland Park Fourth of July parade massacre
Irina and Kevin McCarthy, 35 and 37, were both killed in the massacre. Their two-year-old son, Aiden, was found wandering alone in the aftermath of the shooting
Nicolas Toledo, 76, (left) had not wanted to attend the July 4th parade in Highland Park, Illinois, on Monday, his granddaughter told the New York Times. But because of his disabilities that restricted him to a wheelchair, and his family's insistence of going, he obliged. Jacki Sundheim (right), a longtime staffer at North Shore Congregation Israel, was also shot and killed in the attack
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Shooter Robert Crimo
Crimo, who was arrested late Monday, used a rifle 'similar to an AR-15' to spray more than 70 rounds from atop a commercial building into a crowd that had gathered for the parade in Highland Park, an affluent community of about 30,000 on the Lake Michigan shore, police said.
More than three dozen people were wounded in the attack, which Task force spokesman Christopher Covelli said the suspect had planned for several weeks.
The assault happened less than three years after police went to the suspect's home following a call from a family member who said he was threatening 'to kill everyone' there. Covelli said police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword, but said there was no sign he had any guns at the time, in September 2019.
Police in April 2019 also responded to a reported suicide attempt by the suspect, Covelli said.
The suspect legally purchased the rifle used in the attack in Illinois within the past year, Covelli said. In all, police said, he
