Both parents of toddler found by strangers were killed in Highland Park mass shooting
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) – Both parents of a 2-year-old child were killed in Monday's mass shooting during a July 4th parade in Highland Park.
Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were among the seven people were killed during the mass shooting. Their son, Aiden, was separated from his parents during the chaos.
CBS 2's Jackie Kostek spoke to a couple who took Aiden in 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," said Dana Ring. "Which told us that ... she shouldn't be having to hold, and/or deal with a little one at the same time."
"We took the little boy," Greg Ring said. "I put him in my arms."
The child was not injured.
Greg Ring said he looked back up from beside the couple's car to search for the boy's parents.
"And I saw the scene," he said.
"Carnage," added his partner.
The couple stopped at the fire department because they weren't sure where they should bring the boy.
Ultimately, the couple brought Aiden back to Dana Ring's parents' home nearby where the toddler was playing with the couple's children.
A Highland Park police detective later picked him up and reunited him with his grandparents at a hospital.
A GoFundMe page was created to raise money to support Aiden. As of about 10 p.m. Tuesday, it had already raised more than $1.6 million.
"At two years old, Aiden is left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents," the page description said.
The page said Aiden's grandparents will care for him.
The page raised over $93,000 as of 3:50 p.m. on Tuesday.
Several GoFundMe pages have been set up to help other victims of Monday's mass shooting.
