Kankakee Times

The community of Highland Park is still coming to grips with the shooting deaths of seven at a Fourth of July parade.

“Our hearts are with the families of the victims, survivors, and witnesses,” Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee) wrote on Facebook.

CNN reported Robert “Bobby” Crimo III. has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart announced during a news conference Tuesday evening.

In Haas' post, Haas shared a link to a story about one of the shooting victims, Jacki Sundheim. Her identity was confirmed by Sundheim's synagogue. 

“It is with immeasurable sadness that we let you know that our beloved Jacki Sundheim was one of the victims murdered today at the Highland Park Parade,” the synagogue said in a statement.

The synagogue described Sundheim as a “lifelong congregant of NSCI and a cherished member of NSCI’s staff team for decades.”

ABC7 Chicago reported Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey told Highland Park residents to “move on.” He later apologized and tried to blame the shooting on incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker. 

In a July 6 hearing, prosecutors say that Crimo confessed. The shooting began at 10:14 a.m. local time, soon after the parade began. Crimo was on a rooftop overlooking the parade route, Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon said, where a witness saw him “scanning the crowd with a gun and saw muzzle flashes come from the roof.” 

Afterward, surveillance video is said to have captured the suspect running from the scene with a bag slung over his shoulder. As he ran, Dillon said, an object wrapped in cloth fell from the bag into the alley, where it was later recovered by police — inside was a Smith and Wesson M&P 15, legally purchased by Crimo in 2020.

On the roof, police found three magazines and 83 spent shell casings. After Crimo was taken into custody Monday night, prosecutors said, he gave a voluntary statement to police confessing to the shooting and identified himself on surveillance video.

The Highland Park mass shooting came after the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that ended with 19 children and two teachers dead.

“It is with a heavy heart that I bring to you the names of the victims of that tragedy," Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek said at a press conference late Tuesday afternoon.

Lake County Coroner has named six victims, and the Cook County Medical Examiner has named one.

Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park

Irina McCarthy, 35, of Highland Park

Kevin McCarthy, 37, of Highland Park

Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park

Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park

Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico

Eduardo Uvaldom, 69, of Waukegan