Chicago shooting hits home for SA Jewish expats

“Shay and I [are] hiding in an empty store. Can someone tell me when this over. I don’t know what to do. Please post only if you know something definite,” wrote Candice Crane on Facebook, minutes after a gunman opened fire on a Fourth of July parade in her home town of Highland Park in Chicago, Illinois. She had moved there as a child with her family from Johannesburg, where they found a place filled with warmth and community that reminded them of South Africa.

But that sense of peace and security was shattered when the unimaginable unfolded. Crane, her husband Aaron, and their daughters, aged six and one respectively, had been hanging out in a giant pink Hummer that their friend had hired for the day, when Crane’s daughter wanted to go to the bathroom. They headed to a nearby shop, and when they emerged, “I heard gunshots, and the entire parade was running towards me. It’s something I’ll never forget,” she says.

Meanwhile, Gavin Sollinger, formerly of Cape Town, was watching his son in the parade. “We were right next to where the shooting happened,” he later wrote on Facebook. “[My son] had just walked past us [when we] heard massive amounts of gunshots and people started screaming and running. We helped a guy with gunshot wounds to the head and shoulder. Scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed. Absolutely shocking.”

He later told the CNN news network in a very South African accent “we’re obviously very shook up. We’ve gone to this parade every year for over a decade, and for the past few years, my son has played in the marching band. We were standing with friends and my parents, and all of a sudden, we started to hear this ‘pop-pop-pop’ noise. My wife asked, ‘Is that firecrackers?’ and I said, ‘No, those are gunshots.’ There were so many of them in a row. Then it stopped for a short while and then carried on. People started screaming.

“We had my parents with us, so we were trying to get them away. We moved away from the gunfire and found a building we could duck behind. It’s one of those times where you’re running away, feeling that this could be your last step, kind of hoping nothing hits you. You’re completely helpless, there’s nothing you can do.” He said it was “brutal” being separated from his two children, but they were safe.

Says Crane, “I grabbed Shay’s arm, and we ran through the wine shop and back into the alley. There were tons of people running next to us. I live nearby, but I had no idea where to run to. Somehow, I checked a door and it was open. It was a vacant shop. We went in and hid under the counter with three strangers.”

Separated from her husband, she didn’t know if he was safe. (Their eldest daughter was at summer camp.) Later, he phoned to say that he had seen people injured and bleeding. “That’s when I knew it was real,” says Crane. “He called again a minute later, and said a nice woman had told him to come up to her apartment. He stayed for about an hour.

“Shay and I stayed under the counter listening to sirens and helicopters, praying the shooter or shooters wouldn’t come our way. I kept telling Shay how much I loved her and how brave we were. She knew exactly what was happening and fully experienced the trauma. She wanted to speak to her daddy. I posted on Facebook because I literally didn’t know what to do. When would it be safe?”

Crane’s parents, Mike and Stephanie Levy, usually attend the parade, but didn’t do so this year because they were hosting lunch at their home. Yet when their daughter called them, they followed deep parental instinct and drove into town to find their family.

“When Candi phoned and said there was a shooting, I just said, ‘Stay where you are!’ I went into automatic mode. I just ran. The cops stopped me, but I insisted on going to find them,” says her mother. “Just last week, we decided to check all the mezuzot in our home and Candi’s home. They finished them just before Shabbos, and I truly feel that’s what protected us all.

“We walk through that area of town almost every day,” says Crane. “In fact, the day before, we had lunch at a restaurant directly across from where the shooter attacked. After the parade, the glass there was shattered.

“My good friend’s aunt was shot in the arm, and broke her ankle,” she says. “A mom I know was shot in the hip. A little boy was grazed by a bullet. Everyone here is one degree away from each other. We’ll never be the same.” She says there are quite a lot of South African Jewish expats who live in the area.

The population of Highland Park is some 30 000; about half of the residents are Jewish. The victims included one Jewish educator, Jacki Sundheim (63), and a Jewish couple, Irena McCarthy (35) and Kevin McCarthy (37), who leave behind a toddler son. At least two other victims could be Jewish, but this hasn’t been confirmed. One haunting video shows the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band playing joyful Jewish music in the parade as people run past, fleeing for their lives.

The family spent hours at Crane’s home before eventually deciding to head to her parents. As they drove out of her street, “we saw five FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] agents talking to a woman. We thanked them for being there”, says her father. “We later found out they had been talking to the family of the alleged shooter. He was essentially her neighbour. He was also the neighbour of the Chabad rabbi of Highland Park, Yosef Schanowitz.”

The rabbi told the orthodox news site Anash that he recognised the alleged shooter, who he said had been turned away from Chabad by its armed security guard during a Passover seder this year. The building’s security guard also confirmed to the Forward newspaper that the suspect had visited the congregation during Passover, saying he gave his name and sat in the shul for 45 minutes before leaving. Levy was at this Pesach service, and he clearly remembers that the alleged gunman walked into the synagogue and spent time there. His bag was checked, and because it was empty, he was allowed to stay.

After the attack, Crane’s husband walked home with his baby strapped to his chest. He filmed a short clip, saying, “Just leaving the parade at Highland Park. I got separated from my wife and middle daughter. So we ran off. It was chaos. Scary. I heard the gunshots. Creepy. Scary. Horrifying. I was a mess. Adrenaline gets pumping, you can barely see straight. But we’re on our way home. Everybody’s safe. Hug your kids tonight.” The video has had about 200 000 views on TikTok.

“I’m heartbroken for our community and victims,” wrote Crane on Facebook. “Our safe, fun, loving community where everyone knows your name. We’ll heal together, but most importantly, it’s time for some serious action and change. #hpstrong”