"Why did we survive?" Woman recalls sitting next to couple slain at Highland Park parade, leaving son orphaned
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- They were grandparents, teachers, and most importantly beloved by their family and community. There are seven people forever intertwined in tragedy after the mass shooting at the July 4th parade in Highland Park.
Among them were Irina and Kevin McCarthy, whose 2-year-old son has now come to be known as baby Aiden, after he was orphaned and found wandering alone in Highland Park, after the gunman killed seven people and wounded dozens more.
CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz spoke to Natalie Lorentz, who was right next to the McCarthys on the parade route. She said it was the worst moment of her life.
A photo taken along the 4th of July parade route shows Lorentz with her three children, just moments before the shots rang out.
"We just got up and started running. I grabbed my youngest son, and my husband had my other two kids, and my mom was running with us. She wiped out, and fell, and got separated from us," Lorentz said.
"When I was down on the ground, the guy next to me looked like his leg was shot off. And the woman in front of him was completely covered with blood," her mother said.
Lorentz said the plaid blanket next to them in the photo from the parade belongs to the McCarthy family. She said she remembers seeing Irina and Kevin with Aiden.
Both parents were shot and killed. Their two-year-old son Aiden survived. He was found by strangers and cared for by another Highland Park family until he could be reunited with his grandparents.
"It makes no sense how anyone could do this to a child, where there are children." Lorentz said. "And to think that could just as easily have been us. … I mean, my kids were sitting on their blanket. We kept being like, 'guys, that's not your blanket.' I mean, inches away from us. How did we survive? Why did we survive?"
Aiden, who did survive, is not now in the care of his loving grandparents, according to a GoFundMe posted Tuesday.
That GoFundMe has raised more than $2.5 million to help support him and his grandparents.
