Law enforcement conduct a search after a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, Ill., on July 4.Nam Y. Huh/The Associated Press
A teacher at a synagogue and a grandfather in his 70s who came from Mexico to visit his family were among the six people killed in the shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Chicago suburb Highland Park, according to family and friends.
Nicolas Toledo was the first victim identified by family members after a gunman on a rooftop opened fire on families at the parade on Monday, killing seven and causing injuries to around 50 people. Many of the injured suffered gunshot wounds, while some were hurt by falls, hospital officials said.
“My grandfather Nicolas Toledo father of eight and grandfather to many left us this morning July 4th, what was supposed to be a fun family day turned into a horrific nightmare for us all,” his granddaughter, Xochil Toledo, said.
Authorities have not yet officially released the names of victims.
Toledo’s family set up a page on crowd funding service GoFundMe to raise money to send his body back to his native Mexico. The page raised over $53,000, as of Tuesday afternoon.
Toledo, in his 70s, had been visiting his family for about the past month. He spent his final days swimming and fishing and being among relatives, his family told media.
Relatives of Toledo were wounded in the shooting but were expected to survive, CBS Chicago reported.
Another victim identified was Jacki Sundheim, a teacher at a Highland Park synagogue.
“Jacki’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all, from her teaching at the Gates of Learning Preschool to guiding innumerable among us through life’s moments of joy and sorrow,” North Shore Congregation Israel said in an e-mail to congregants.
Sundheim was survived by her husband and daughter, it said.
Nine patients remained hospitalized out of a total of 39 brought to hospitals run by NorthShore University HealthSystem, ranging in age from 14 to in their 70s, said spokesman Jim Anthony.
Four of the gunshot victims are in good condition and another four are in stable condition. One patient, a 68-year-old man, is in critical condition with a gunshot wound at the system’s Evanston hospital.
Twenty-eight of the patients have been treated and discharged, while one, an 8-year-old boy, was transported to the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. One patient died while receiving critical care at the Highland Park Hospital Emergency Department, he said.
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