Rose Garden Memorial To Highland Park Mass Shooting Victims Opens

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A temporary memorial to the victims of the Highland Park 4th of July parade mass shooting opened Friday in the garden between City Hall and the Highland Park Public Library.

Seven people were killed and at least 48 others were injured when a lone gunman opened fire at paradegoers from a rooftop. A 22-year-old Highland Park High School dropout is awaiting trial on 117 felony counts in connection with the massacre.

The new memorial at 1707 St. Johns Avenue contains seven plaques, one with the name of each of the people slain at the parade.

They each contain a photo and message selected by the families of Katie Goldstein, Irina and Kevin McCarthy, Stephen Straus, Jacki Sundheim, Nicholas Toledo and Eduardo Uvaldo.

There are also two plaques remembering the victims, one in English and one in Spanish, at the southwest corner of St. Johns and Central avenues.

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"The Rose Garden is intended to be a quiet place to remember those who were killed on July 4, 2022 and all whose lives were forever changed," one of the signs says. "The Rose Garden is a shared space for all, particularly for those mourning the loss of a loved one. Please be respectful of those who are grieving and this space."

Just to the east of the temporary memorial, a rock garden contains "decorated rocks with heartfelt messages," according to a sign, which encourages visitors to take a rock with them or leave one behind.

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Earlier temporary memorials were established at Port Clinton Square and the Veterans Memorial.

On Friday, city officials placed flowers at the garden and the intersection of St. Johns and Central and invited residents to lay them at the garden as a personal remembrance.

Counselors and therapy dogs and ponies from SOUL Harbour Ranch in Barrington were on hand to provide emotional support to community members.

"I was at the intersection where the shooting took place," Martha Wallace, one of the visitors at the memorial Friday, told WLS-TV, "and I feel like one of the very blessed ones and just continue to remember the ones who were so deeply affected."

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Mayor Nancy Rotering said the new temporary memorial means that the community is still deep in mourning and emphasized the need to give people time and space.

“It is very hard when people say, ‘How are you doing?’ to respond with anything other than, ‘We’re still in pain, and we’re still very angry that this came to our community,’” Rotering said, according to the Lake County News-Sun.

Feedback from victims, victims' families and members of the public will be considered when planning a permanent memorial next year, according to city staff.

Staff said they were aware many victims are still recovering from physical injuries and are not currently able to take part in discussions.

UPDATE: City Council Discusses Permanent Highland Park Mass Shooting Memorial