Names Of Highland Park Shooting Victims Released As Community Mourns

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The identities of the seven people killed in the mass shooting at Highland Park's Independence Day parade are beginning to emerge, with the names of six victims released Tuesday.

Five adults were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek. Another person died in the emergency room of NorthShore Highland Park Hospital, hospital officials said. A seventh person died on Tuesday at a hospital in Cook County, officials confirmed.

A total of 39 people were treated for injuries at NorthShore University HealthSystem hospitals in Highland Park, Glenview, Skokie and Evanston, ranging from the age of 8 to 85.

As of Tuesday afternoon, nine people between the ages of 14 and 80 remained hospitalized, according to hospital officials. Eight of them are being treated for gunshot wounds, and a 69-year-old man was in critical condition at Evanston Hospital.

Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico, grandfather of Highland Park residents and dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, was shot multiple times while sitting in his wheelchair and died at the scene. His son and the boyfriend of his granddaughter were also struck, suffering injuries that were not considered life-threatening, his family members told the New York Times.

What was supposed to have been a fun day with the family turned into a "horrific nightmare for us all," family members said in an online fundraiser. "Not only was Nicolas a loving man [but also] creative, adventurous and funny."

Toledo, the first victim of the shooting to be identified Monday, had faced health challenges after he was hit by a car while walking in Highland Park a few years ago, according to his family, and in recent months he had moved from Mexico to the North Shore full-time at the urging of family members.

On the morning of his death, Toledo, a father of eight, spoke about how happy he was to be around his children, a family member told the New York Post, recounting that he had saved the lives of his family members as his own was taken.

At least two other Mexican citizens were among the wounded, according to a Robert Velasco Alvarez, chief of the North American unit of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Jacquelyn "Jacki" Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park, was a lifelong congregant of North Shore Congregation Israel and a longtime staff member at the Glencoe synagogue before she was shot and killed at the parade Monday.

"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," according to a statement from synagogue officials.

"There are no words sufficient to express the depth of our grief for Jacki’s death and sympathy for her family and loved ones," they said. "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 amidst this boundless grief."

The names of four other victims were released Tuesday by Banek, although the seventh person, who died Tuesday, has not yet been identified.

Stephen Straus, 88, Highland Park

Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park

Kevin McCarthy, 37, of Highland Park

Irina McCarthy, 35, of Highland Park

The McCarthys' 2-year-old son was found alone in the chaos after the shooting with blood stains on his leg and shoes, according to reports on social media. He was later reunited with his grandparents, according to an online fundraiser.

A 21-year-old Highwood man is in custody awaiting charges for the shooting. Authorities said he legally purchased the high-powered rifle used in the killings and climbed a fire escape to the rooftop of a Central Avenue business while disguised in women's attire before firing more than 70 shots from the rooftop of a Central Avenue business into the crowd below.

"It is impossible to imagine the pain of this kind of tragedy until it happens in your backyard. Our focus for the last 36 hours has been on the perpetrator of this heinous crime," Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said Tuesday.

"As we now put the names and faces of those lost yesterday family, friends, guest, longtime residents of the Highland Park community, our focus shifts to the victims and those left behind," Rotering said. "This crisis has devastated entire families and our community in a single moment and we know it will take time to heal."

Earlier: Highland Park 4th Of July Mass Shooting: 6 Dead, Suspect In Custody

This is a developing story, more information will be added as it becomes available