A GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $2 million for a 2-year-old boy whose parents were killed in the Independence Day shooting in Highland Park, Illinois.
Aiden McCarthy was unharmed but bloodied underneath the leg of his father when a stranger found him, according to the Daily Mail.
The toddler initially was separated from his parents — Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35 — during the chaos in which seven people were killed and more than two dozen others were wounded.
According to the Daily Mail, the toddler kept asking the strangers who helped him, “are Mom and Dad coming back soon?”
Aiden is in the care of his grandparents, Misha and Nina Levberg, and the GoFundMe page was established with the family’s blessing.
“Aiden will be cared for by his loving family and he will have a long road ahead to heal, find stability, and ultimately navigate life as an orphan,” the GoFundMe page reads. “He is surrounded by a community of friends and extended family that will embrace him with love, and any means available to ensure he has everything he needs as he grows.”
The top donation of $18,000 came from a man named William Ackman late Tuesday.
The suspected shooter has been identified as 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III. The Lake County State’s Attorney charged him with seven counts of first-degree murder, and intends to add charges, including attempted murder, aggravated discharge and aggravated battery charges, according to CNN.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.