‘The world is darker without my mom in it’: Services begin for Highland Park parade shooting victims
starting with the corner, Good afternoon on july 4th 2022 at approximately 10:15 a.m. Highland Park police were on the scene of an active shooter in the area. Central Avenue and second street Highland Park. While an Independence day parade was in progress, the Lake County coroner’s office was notified and responded to the scene. It is with *** heavy heart that I bring to you the names of the victims of that tragedy. 64 year old Katherine Goldstein of Highland Park, 35 year old Irena McCarthy of Highland Park, 37 year old Kevin McCarthy of Highland Park, 63 year old Jacqueline Sundheim at Highland Park, 88 year old steven Strauss of Highland Park, 78 year old Nicholas, Toledo Zaragoza of Murillo’s Mexico. We have also been notified that there is *** 7th victim that died at *** hospital located outside of Lake County. I will now give the microphone to the Mayor of Highland Park mayor nancy rotering the highland park community like so many before us is devastated. It is impossible to imagine the pain of this kind of tragedy until it happens in your backyard. Our focus, the last 36 hours has been on the perpetrator of this heinous crime as we now put the names and faces of those lost yesterday, family, friends, guests, longtime residents of the highland park community. Our focus shifts to the victims and those left behind. This crisis has devastated entire families and our community in *** single moment and we know it will take time to heal on behalf of the community and the world that mourns alongside us. I offer loved ones of those who passed our condolences. I thank those who have organized prayer vigils to help support the weight of our shared sorrow. We’ve listed those on our website and while we’re hurting, we know that we will continue to come together and support each other, as we always do in difficult times. We are Highland Park strong. There were some questions in our last press briefing about prior contacts that law enforcement may have had with Primo the third. Uh we’ve done some research, gathered some reports and I’m gonna relate some information from two prior instances that occurred here in Highland Park. The first was in April of 2019. An individual contacted Highland Park Police Department *** week after learning of Mr Cremo attempting suicide. Uh, this was *** delayed report, so Highland Park still responded to the residence *** week later spoke with Primo spoke with his parents and the matter was being handled by mental health professionals at that time. There was no law enforcement action to be taken. It was *** mental health issue handled by those professionals. The second occurred in September of 2019. *** family member reported that Primo said he was going to kill everyone and Primo had *** collection of knives. The police responded to his residence. The police removed 16 knives, *** dagger and *** sword from Kramer’s home at that time. There was no probable cause to arrest. There were arrest. There were no complaints that were signed by any of the victims. The Highland Park Police Department, however, did immediately notify the Illinois State police of the incident, shifting gears *** little bit. Talking about the investigation itself. The community has been absolutely terrific with providing information to law enforcement investigators throughout this. Um, but we’re asking the community to if they’re able to dig *** little deeper and and recall some specific instances from the event based on video surveillance recovered by our investigators. We’re very certain that there was *** female witness who saw Cremo drop an object inside of *** red blanket behind Ross is at 625 Central Avenue immediately following the shooting. We’ve not been able to identify this witness yet, but we’re asking if you are the witness and you are hearing this, please call 800 Call FBI investigators really would like to speak to you about this. We’re also asking that anyone with any firsthand information about Primo relevant to this investigation. Also call 800 call FBI. Please keep in mind that we’re asking for first hand information that could be relevant that could help investigators. We’re not asking for third party information or information heard through the grapevine only if it’s firsthand knowledge that you have to update the victim count, including including those that have perished. There are Approximately 45 injured or deceased from this incident At about 5:30 this evening. The state’s attorney’s office will be holding *** press conference and we anticipate an announcement of charges at that time. With that, we’ll take some questions chief. So going to this september incident, obviously people are gonna look at this and say, well, this could have been an opportunity to stop what we saw here. Your view on that. And how are these things supposed to be handled? How do you stop *** shooter if someone’s calling police saying, hey, we have *** problem. So the question is the response to the september incident. The police responded there. Police can’t make an arrest unless there is probable cause to make an arrest or somebody is willing to sign complaints regarding the rest absence of those things, the police don’t have power to detain somebody. Now, if there is an issue where there is the necessity to um involuntarily commit somebody to the hospital, that’s an option, but that wasn’t an option at that time that it didn’t fall in that category. But nonetheless, highland park police did notify the Illinois State police of that professional, Someone I want to go from what I appreciate never. How do you, the threat was directed at family inside of the home, but the fight got what he did to make. So in order to purchase *** gun legally in Illinois, one has to possess *** boycott. That’s *** process that is solely managed by the state police and I’m not able to speak to that process, chris you mentioned how much the community has been helpful case with videos with sending information to you guys. So many people I’ve been talking to you are asking, how can this be prevented given the amount of social media posts, this sort of serving content. That would you recommend that community members in this community or others that you said you weren’t aware of it from your hand, were you? If you were aware of it, this have prevented something like this. So the question is essentially social media, if we had known about some of the posts, would we have investigated, do we encourage the community to report those? And the answer is absolutely, if the public sees something that is concerning online with anybody, they should notify the social media network that’s posted on, they should notify local law enforcement and that’s when we get involved and we conduct an investigation. Law enforcement’s gonna do everything they possibly can to ensure the community is kept safe. But if we don’t know about it, it’s hard for us to investigate. So in the case of september the knives that primo possessed, They were confiscated and they were secured for safekeeping. So, so at that time there was no information that he possessed any firearms, Any rifles, um would that be enough? If he’s making threats, it’s it’s it’s *** case by case basis. I don’t want to speak broadly to the issue. It depends on the circumstances, There are circumstances where law enforcement does have that authority to obtain *** seizure order. But it is situational dependent every single time that visited *** synagogue here in town during Passover. You know anything that’s nothing at this time. You mentioned that you mentioned that the the weapons rifles were legally purchased in this general Chicago area. But can you specifically say when they were They were purchased after that September incident? I don’t have the exact dates. I believe it was in 2020 and 2021. Is there any investigators have been really tirelessly working since Supremo was taken into custody trying to determine motive at this point, there is no definitive motive that he had. He has been talking to investigators. I don’t have that information. The object, it was the rifle and it was in *** red blanket after the shooting, tried to check himself into *** hospital federal holiday. Sure, no, we do not have this. So just to follow up on the last september incident, you said that involuntarily committing him was not an option. Can you explain that? What are the options for officers based on that time based on those circumstances? That that was not an option? It did not fall in that category. What would it require? Again, it’s it’s case by case specific. We’re Irene and kevin husband and wife chris do you ever say anything about handguns and you talked earlier about how many were there were they legally purchased anything on that? The sheer number. So he had purchased fire five firearms by firearms and that includes rifles and handguns as well. So the other three legally purchased. There were *** combination of which I don’t have the exact count. At least two rifles, some pistols and possibly *** shotgun. Those were seized at his father’s home pursuant to *** search warrant yesterday. Yeah. I would have to do *** little research on that five bucks approximately *** year. Is there any information about that? Not yet. But we are we are working on obtaining some some information. That would be my yes. If charges are filed today it’s very likely he’ll appear in court tomorrow morning. You have more evidence about more explanation of what you found in the car was down on the blanket and what you found on the roof gives more specifics on that evidence, technicians are collecting *** lot of shell casings but as far as anything of evidentiary value that that’s the extent there was *** rifle. I would have to check and get back to. Do you know where he was heading in that car with that second right He was he drove around to *** number of places he drove into Wisconsin and then he came back into Illinois. That’s when the alert person who recognized the vehicle description from the press briefing called 911 and he was stopped any federal investigation. So the FBI the ***. T. F. Our federal partners, the Department of Justice are very involved in this case. I can’t speak for them. All I can say is they are on the ground here working with us and live step and I can take two more. Going back to the september incident, we’ve notified state police. What was the follow up from state add that? Was there any monitoring given what of this sense of media sugar? My name is Master Sergeant Delila Garcia. I’m the public information officer, Deputy chief. So basically in september of 2019 sp did receive information from Highland Park um Police department and at that time uh the individual named in the report did not have *** void cart or anything uh to revoke or two view. So at that point that boy part of it was our our standard and there was nothing done to say this person shouldn’t be able to get, is there any mechanism to say this person shouldn’t be able to get *** four guard in the future. Does any action like that taken? Well at that time basically. Um so he didn’t have *** pending application. So there was nothing to review at that time when we got that notification. We didn’t know you know *** few months later something else. And what would state police have to have done or have to have seen in order to try to involuntary commit someone based on those facts in those circumstances. Right? So the league came to you to follow up on after looking at the facts from that. Was that an option that you considered? Well, this person might need to be involuntary committed, involuntarily committed, but there was no application correct. But the league came to you right. This person had knives. Obviously there was *** threat that was posed. So your role was only whether he had *** firearm or not. And the state law, does it allow you to flag someone and say, hey, we’re flagging this person. They should be, are you allowed to say this person can’t get *** card in the future? More questions regarding that procedure from the state police will be forthcoming. Um, so we know there’s gonna be some questions directed to the state police on on procedure. How Foid card applications work when *** notification comes in from local law enforcement. That is much better answered by the state police. It’s very hard to speak to their policies and I don’t want to get into how we know he was in Wisconsin, but we know he traveled to the Madison area before turning around and coming back. *** family member reported that he was being threatened. So in other words, the family member reported knives being there, but then he’s buying guns and nobody said nothing. I’m not quite following your question. The police responded. The police responded in september okay, to this call. They responded, they took the knives out of the home. They filed the paperwork with the Illinois state police. At that time. There was no function to make an arrest. There was no, I don’t know if the parents were there. I can’t. Alright, thank you. We’ll be back in five.
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‘The world is darker without my mom in it’: Services begin for Highland Park parade shooting victims
Mourners on Friday remembered a woman who worked tirelessly at her synagogue and a gentle man who loved art in the first formal services to be held for the seven people killed by the gunman who opened fire on a July Fourth parade.Synagogue members at North Shore Congregation Israel near the Chicago suburb of Highland Park described 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim as a dedicated member of their community who coordinated events and and taught preschool classes, smiling all along and constantly checking on other staff members.“We are horrified,” Rabbi Wendi Geffen said. “We are enraged, sickened, aggrieved, inconsolable for the terror that has befallen us and robbed us of Jacki.”But Geffen and other speakers urged the people filling the synagogue to focus on Sundheim’s life — her commitment to her husband, Bruce, and daughter, Leah, the pleasure she took in knitting and her attention to detail when planning bat or bar mitzahs, weddings or funerals.Her daughter had another request: to use the pain, fear and rage caused by her mother’s death to make the world better, in small thoughts and actions.“I want you to laugh,” she said, holding back tears. “I want you to each and every day put a little more joy and kindness into this world. Do not let this sadness, this fear, rage turn you bitter towards our world. The world is darker without my mom in it, and it’s up to us now to fill it with a little extra laughter.”Mourners also filled the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston to support the family of 88-year-old Stephen Straus, who was eulogized as a funny father and grandfather who loved reading and art and still rode the train five days a week to the downtown Chicago office where he worked as a financial adviser.Son Jonathan described Straus as “truly to his core, just a sweet, generous person” while his other son, Peter, thanked his dad for instilling a love of the “zany” including Mel Brooks.Jonathan Straus said learning of his father’s death from a doctor at a hospital “was the worst moment of my life.”“Thinking about what a good, giving, loving person he was, it makes the cruelty and the horror of his death that much harder to take,” he said. “When I see pictures of him … it really just sweeps over me, what we’ve lost, who I lost, my best friend ever.”A 2020 study by Brandeis University and the University of Chicago found Highland Park had among the Chicago region’s highest concentrations of Jewish residents — a fact reflected by the half-dozen or more synagogues in the suburb or just outside it. Many local restaurants offer kosher food options.Neighboring Highwood is home to a large Hispanic population, and Mexican authorities have said two men killed at the parade were natives of the country.Friends and family of 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza plan to remember him Friday afternoon. Services for 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo are scheduled for Saturday.Police have repeatedly said that victims were shot randomly and that the assailant had no racial or religious motivation.Funeral details for the remaining victims have not been made public. Authorities have identified them as 35-year-old Irina McCarthy and 37-year-old Kevin McCarthy, who were attending the parade with their 2-year-old son, and 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein, a mother of two.The accused gunman, Robert E. Crimo III, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors expect to bring more charges representing the more than 30 people were wounded in the assault.Investigators have said the suspect, who lived in neighboring Highwood, legally purchased five weapons and planned the attack for weeks before he climbed to the roof of a business along the parade route and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle.Investigators reported that Crimo fled the parade by blending in with the fleeing crowd, then drove to the Madison, Wisconsin, area, where he contemplated a second attack. He returned to the Highland Park area, and his car was spotted by police.Questions remain about whether Crimo should have been able to legally purchase firearms in Illinois. Illinois State Police officials have defended the approval of his gun license in December 2019, months after police received reports that he had made suicidal and violent threats.___Associated Press Writer Michael Tarm contributed to this report.
Mourners on Friday remembered a woman who worked tirelessly at her synagogue and a gentle man who loved art in the first formal services to be held for the seven people killed by the gunman who opened fire on a July Fourth parade.
Synagogue members at North Shore Congregation Israel near the Chicago suburb of Highland Park described 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim as a dedicated member of their community who coordinated events and and taught preschool classes, smiling all along and constantly checking on other staff members.
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“We are horrified,” Rabbi Wendi Geffen said. “We are enraged, sickened, aggrieved, inconsolable for the terror that has befallen us and robbed us of Jacki.”
But Geffen and other speakers urged the people filling the synagogue to focus on Sundheim’s life — her commitment to her husband, Bruce, and daughter, Leah, the pleasure she took in knitting and her attention to detail when planning bat or bar mitzahs, weddings or funerals.
Her daughter had another request: to use the pain, fear and rage caused by her mother’s death to make the world better, in small thoughts and actions.
“I want you to laugh,” she said, holding back tears. “I want you to each and every day put a little more joy and kindness into this world. Do not let this sadness, this fear, rage turn you bitter towards our world. The world is darker without my mom in it, and it’s up to us now to fill it with a little extra laughter.”
Mourners also filled the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston to support the family of 88-year-old Stephen Straus, who was eulogized as a funny father and grandfather who loved reading and art and still rode the train five days a week to the downtown Chicago office where he worked as a financial adviser.
Son Jonathan described Straus as “truly to his core, just a sweet, generous person” while his other son, Peter, thanked his dad for instilling a love of the “zany” including Mel Brooks.
Jonathan Straus said learning of his father’s death from a doctor at a hospital “was the worst moment of my life.”
“Thinking about what a good, giving, loving person he was, it makes the cruelty and the horror of his death that much harder to take,” he said. “When I see pictures of him … it really just sweeps over me, what we’ve lost, who I lost, my best friend ever.”
A 2020 study by Brandeis University and the University of Chicago found Highland Park had among the Chicago region’s highest concentrations of Jewish residents — a fact reflected by the half-dozen or more synagogues in the suburb or just outside it. Many local restaurants offer kosher food options.
Neighboring Highwood is home to a large Hispanic population, and Mexican authorities have said two men killed at the parade were natives of the country.
Friends and family of 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza plan to remember him Friday afternoon. Services for 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo are scheduled for Saturday.
Police have repeatedly said that victims were shot randomly and that the assailant had no racial or religious motivation.
Funeral details for the remaining victims have not been made public. Authorities have identified them as 35-year-old Irina McCarthy and 37-year-old Kevin McCarthy, who were attending the parade with their 2-year-old son, and 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein, a mother of two.
The accused gunman, Robert E. Crimo III, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors expect to bring more charges representing the more than 30 people were wounded in the assault.
Investigators have said the suspect, who lived in neighboring Highwood, legally purchased five weapons and planned the attack for weeks before he climbed to the roof of a business along the parade route and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle.
Investigators reported that Crimo fled the parade by blending in with the fleeing crowd, then drove to the Madison, Wisconsin, area, where he contemplated a second attack. He returned to the Highland Park area, and his car was spotted by police.
Questions remain about whether Crimo should have been able to legally purchase firearms in Illinois. Illinois State Police officials have defended the approval of his gun license in December 2019, months after police received reports that he had made suicidal and violent threats.
___
Associated Press Writer Michael Tarm contributed to this report.