July 4 massacre hits home: 4 Jews feared among 7 slain by gun-obsessed madman

CHICAGO — As the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., headed down Central Avenue in one of Chicago’s most Jewish suburbs, gunshots rang out at approximately 10:15 am from the rooftop of Gearhead Outfitters on Central Avenue. Thousands of panicked revelers who had been enjoying the parade chaotically rushed for safety, with parents frantically shielding their children. Seven people were killed and at least 30 wounded, police said.

At least three and possibly four of the casualties were Jewish:

•Jacki Sundheim, events and b’nei mitzvah coordinator at a nearby Reform synagogue, North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe. A message from the congregation said her “work, kindness and warmth touched us all” and that she guided “innumerable among us through life’s moments of joy and sorrow, all of this with tireless dedication.”

•Irina (Levberg) McCarthy, 35, who died with her husband, Kevin McCarthy, 37, while Kevin shielded their 2-year-old child.

•Stephen Straus, 88, described by the Chicago Tribune as “energetic beyond his years,” commuting “on Metra five days a week to his office downtown, where he worked as a stockbroker.”

The other victims identified as of late Tuesday were Katherine Goldstein, 64, and Nicholas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78.

Israel’s Consul General in Chicago, Yinam Cohen, told Chicago’s Channel 12 that the attack did not appear to be directed at the Jewish community, “even though the profile of the attacker might be thought to match such an incident.”

But when images of the now-apprehended suspect (21-year-old Robert “Bobby” Crimo III of Highwood, Ill.) began circulating, Rabbi Schanowitz realized he’d seen the young man before, Chabad.org reported.

“In the spring of 2022, an individual who matches the description of the shooter briefly visited the synagogue,” Rabbi Schanowitz said in a statement. “He entered wearing a yarmulke yet seemed out of place.

“Upon arriving, he was greeted by our security team, which includes off-duty police officers, and licensed and trained congregants, who observed him throughout. A short while later he departed without incident. We are, of course, working with law enforcement to help advance their investigation.”

Half of Highland Park’s 30,000 residents are Jewish, according to a 2020 study of the Chicago area by researchers at Brandeis University and the University of Chicago, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. Because of a significant Jewish infrastructure, Highland Park and neighboring communities are common destinations for Israelis, who make up about 3 percent of the population, according to the study.

Crimo was arrested several hours after the shooting and charged late Tuesday with seven counts of first-degree murder. Police said more chargers were pending.

Over years leading up to the July 4th murders, Crimo’s social media persona was reflected in many violence-infused and gun-obsessed posts.

Authorities said Crimo had been planning the attack for several week. Dressing as a woman and hiding his facial tattoos to avoid being detected, he climbed a fire escape to the roof of the building from which he fired more than 70 shots into the crowd, then dropped his rifle, left the roof and blended in with the crowd to escape to his mother’s house, they said.

The July 4th parade annually has a strong Jewish presence, with Chabad running a float that includes a giant menorah and providing other Jewish experiences for participants. A klezmer band was playing when the shots were heard.

Michla Schanowitz, co-director of North Suburban Luba- vitch Chabad Central Avenue Synagogue, was outside her Chabad center at the heart of the parade’s route, four blocks away from the shooting, when she saw crowds running towards her. Chabad had a table set up outside the center offering passersby a chance to put on tefillin or take a Shabbat candle kit, staffed by four young rabbinical students from Chabad’s Yeshivas Ohr Eliyahu Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago.

“The parade had barely started. All of a sudden, I see everyone running towards us,” says Schanowitz. She began rushing people to safety inside her Chabad center immediately.

“The community is in absolute shock,” her husband, Rabbi Yosef Schanowitz, told Chabad.org from the Emergency Department at the Highland Park Hospital where he was visiting victims of the attack. “People should pray for Highland park and do an extra act of goodness for us,” he said.

As word of the attack in Highland Park spread, parades in neighboring suburbs were canceled. In Skokie, the parade was called off just before Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie’s Mitzvah Tank was about to roll down the parade route, festooned with a large American flag and stocked with thousands of magnets encouraging goodness and kindness.

“We will persist in spreading the message of gratitude to the United States of America for giving us freedom and being conducive to a society which values goodness and kindness,” said Rabbi Yochanan Posner of Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie.

“The Rebbe wants us to bring more light and more positivity to our surroundings,” said Rabbi Schanowitz. 

“Our community, like so many before us, is devastated,” said Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, who is Jewish. “Gun violence [is] a crisis that devastates entire families and communities in a single moment.”

“Enough is enough!” tweeted the area’s congressman, Rep. Brad Schneider, who is Jewish.

Gov. JB Pritzker, who is Jewish, arrived quickly at the scene and gave a speech to the media calling for an end to gun violence.

“There are no words for the kind of evil that shows up at a public celebration of freedom, hides on a roof and shoots innocent people with an assault rifle. There are no words I can offer to lessen the pain of those families who will no longer associate the Fourth of July with celebration, but instead with grief.”

Consul General Cohen told the Times of Israel that “we, unfortunately, have a lot of experience with this, and it’s something we want to offer to the local authorities, as the community endured very difficult trauma yesterday and will continue grappling with it in the days and weeks ahead.”

The consulate previously connected community leaders in Chicago’s South Side with Natal, an Israeli organization that treats victims of terror-related trauma with the group’s professionals. The training the locals received from Natal allowed them to reach some 45,000 trauma victims in Chicago, he said.

This report was drawn from multiple sources, including an article for Chabad.org by Mendel Super and Menachem Posner, and a JNS report by Dmitriy Shapiro.