A dedicated synagogue worker and a grandfather watching Fourth of July festivities from his wheelchair were among the victims of a shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, where celebrations were shattered as a gunman opened fire at a parade, killing six people and injuring at least two dozen others.
The suburban city north of Chicago was left shaken and mourning after its holiday celebrations were marred by the tragedy of yet another mass shooting.
Five victims, all adults, were killed along the parade route Monday, and a sixth died at the hospital, according to Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek. At least one of the victims was a Mexican national, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, the head of the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s North America unit, tweeted Monday.
“I’m furious because it does not have to be this way,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a news conference Monday.
Authorities have not publicly released the names of the people killed in the shooting. However, the names of some of the victims emerged Tuesday.
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Nicolas Toledo, 76, was among the victims, his granddaughter, Alba Toledo, 23, confirmed in Spanish in a message to USA TODAY, adding their family is “shattered.”
“It’s an enormous pain,” she said.
“Believe me my grandfather was a great person, with an enormous heart, he was the best grandfather, loving, attentive,” she added.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to go to the parade, but his family — who had excitedly set up chairs along the parade route the night before — brought him to the event to watch in his wheelchair, another of his granddaughters, Xochil Toledo, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
When shots rang out, Xochil Toledo said her father tried to shield her grandfather, but Nicolas Toledo died at the scene of the shooting.
Toledo, a great-grandfather and dual Mexican-American citizen, spent most of his life in Morelos, Mexico, and had moved back to Highland Park a few months ago to be with family, Xochil Toledo told the Sun-Times. It is unclear if he is the Mexican national that an official from the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s North America unit said was among the victims.
He had eight children, a big smile and bright, blue eyes, Xochil Toledo told the Sun-Times. He liked a home-cooked meal and had a great sense of humor. Alba Toledo told USA TODAY her grandfather loved drawing, hunting, fishing and going for walks in the park.
“We only wish that he’s remembered as a great person, a hard-working man, a great father and grandfather, charismatic, fun, a fighter and adventurer,” she said.
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Jacki Sundheim was a dedicated, lifelong congregant and a staff member at the North Shore Congregation Israel for decades, according to the synagogue, which confirmed her death in a statement on its website.
Sundheim helped organized events as the synagogue’s events and B’nei Mitzvah coordinator. She also once taught at the Gates of Learning Preschool with “tireless dedication,” according to the statement.
“Jacki’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all,” the synagogue said.
“There are no words sufficient to express the depth of our grief for Jacki’s death and sympathy for her family and loved ones,” it added. “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.”
Contributing: Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY