HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) – Both parents of a 2-year-old child were killed in Monday’s mass shooting during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park.
Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were among the seven killed in the mass shooting. Their son Aidan was separated from his parents during the chaos.
CBS 2’s Jackie Kostek spoke with a couple who took in Aiden during the chaos of the shooting. Dana and Greg Ring found the child with a stranger.
The couple said the stranger was in shock.
“She was physically shaking, her whole body,” Dana Ring said. “Which told us that… she shouldn’t be holding and/or handling a small child at the same time.”
“We got the little guy,” Greg Ring said. “I put it in my hands.”
The child was not injured.
Aidan McCarthy, 2, lost both parents in the mass shooting in Highland Park on July 4, 2022. Courtesy CBS
Greg Ring said he looked back from the couple’s car to look for the boy’s parents.
“I saw the scene too,” he said.
“Carnage,” added his partner.
The couple stopped at the fire station because they weren’t sure where to take the boy.
The couple eventually returned Aidan to Dana Ring’s parents’ home nearby, where the toddler was playing with the couple’s children.
A Highland Park police detective later picks him up and reunites him with his grandparents at a hospital.
Couple killed in Highland Park mass shooting leaves behind 2-year-old son 02:18
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to support Aiden. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, more than $1.6 million had already been raised.
“At two years old, Aidan was left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents,” the page’s description reads.
The page said Aidan’s grandparents will be looking after him.
The page had raised over $93,000 as of 3:50 p.m. Tuesday.
Several GoFundMe pages have been set up to help other victims of Monday’s mass shooting.
Jackie Kostek
Jackie Kostek is a reporter and anchor covering news and sports for CBS2 Chicago
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