Highland Park Victim Was A Grandfather Who Just Moved To America And Didn't Want to Attend the Parade

Nicolas Toledo, 76, didn't really want to attend Highland Park's July 4th parade, however, his disabilities needed that someone is around him for some time.

But his family was not going to skip the parade — even going so far as positioning chairs for a choice viewing spot at midnight the night before.

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Mr. Toledo was, unfortunately, sitting in his wheelchair along the parade route and that was positioned between his son and nephew.

This was the tragic moment when bullets started flying: “We were all in shock,” Xochil Toledo, his granddaughter, said. “We thought it was part of the parade.”

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Then, she said, “We realized our grandfather was hit. We saw blood and everything splattered onto us.”

Mr. Toledo suffered from 3 gunshot wounds that ultimately killed him.

His other family members, including his son and Ms. Toledo’s boyfriend, were also shot, but their injuries were not life-threatening, the family said.

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6 people died at the parade on Monday, one of whom was a Mexican national, according to Roberto Velasco Álvarez, the head of the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s North America unit. It was not immediately clear if that person was Mr. Toledo.

The family shared that he held dual citizenship and migrated between the United States and Mexico throughout his life.

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The grandfather moved back to Highland only a few months back from Mexico after his family urged him to come back.

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He was struck in a car while walking in Highland Park a few years ago in a prior stint living with family and had a number of medical issues resulting from that accident.

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“We brought him over here so he could have a better life,” Ms. Toledo said. “His sons wanted to take care of him and be more in his life, and then this tragedy happened.”

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