HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — A doting grandfather who immigrated from Mexico to give his family a better life and two parents on a fun outing with their toddler were among the seven people shot and killed last year at a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
A 21-year-old gunman allegedly carried out the mass shooting in the leafy suburban Chicago town that, according to FBI statistics, hadn't had a murder in more than 20 years.
Backes spoke glowingly of her"dear friend Katie G.," describing her as an"extraordinary person" and"everyone's best friend" who was"always around for her kids." "She would cook meals that were so adventurous and fun," said Backes, who spotted a recipe notebook on the kitchen counter when she visited the Goldstein home Tuesday.
"Every time I tried to ask him what his name was, the response he gave to me was, 'Mama, Dada come get me soon. Mommy's car come to get me soon,'" Dana Ring recalled in an interview with ABC News. "I called him [on the day of the shooting] just to wish him a Happy Fourth of July and he didn't respond, which I didn't make much of," Peter Straus, who lives in San Francisco, told the newspaper."And then news stories started coming out about a shooting in Highland Park.
Uvaldo's granddaughter, Nivia Guzman, wrote on a GoFundMe page that her family attended the Highland Park parade every year.
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