Two-year-old Boy Rescued After Parents Killed in July 4 Shooting

搜索

复制

On July 4, strangers found a small boy covered in blood just after a shooting attack started in Highland¹ Park in the Midwestern U.S. state of Illinois.

The boy was taken to a nearby home and kept safe until officials were able to find his grandparents.

The attack took place as crowds were gathered at an Independence Day Parade. Greg Ring ran from the place of the shooting with his wife and three children. That is when a stranger found him and handed him a small boy covered in blood.

Ring said the boy was saying "mommy" and "daddy" and pointing in the direction of the parade where six people were killed and many more were hurt. Later, a seventh person died of their wounds.

Ring took the boy back to the area of the parade, but police told him to go away because it was not safe. He then brought the boy to a local fire station. The firefighters were not able to care for the child, Ring said, because "they were getting ready for war." He meant they were getting ready to care for the victims of the shooting.

Ring took the boy inside, where the Rings cleaned off the blood and let him watch television. After the boy's photo was sent around on social media, people were able to find out his name: Aiden McCarthy. His parents, 37-year-old Kevin and 35-year-old Irina, were dead. Aiden had been found covered in his parents' blood.

A family member said Irina's parents would take care of the boy.

A friend, Irina Colon², started a fundraising website for Aiden. On it, she wrote: "Aiden...will have a long road ahead to heal³...and navigate⁴ life as an orphan⁵." So far, people have given more than $2 million.

One of the people who gave money wrote: "Aiden, my heart is breaking for you."

Ring said he is still trying to understand what happened on July 4. He said he does not want to be thought of as a hero and he did what anyone else would have done.

He feels as if he and his family are lucky to be alive.

"I have not slept for a minute the last two nights," he said, adding "it is nothing short of a miracle⁶ that the five of us — me, my wife and my three kids — one of us or all of us isn't dead. I do not understand. Everybody around us was hit or got shot."

In the three days since the shooting on America's Independence Day, the five other victims were identified. They are: Katherine Goldstein, Stephen Strauss, Jacquelyn Sundheim, Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza and Eduardo Uvaldo. Officials said some of the injured remain in serious condition.

The top lawyer for Lake County⁷, Illinois, is Eric Rinehart. Robert Crimo III has been identified as the suspected shooter. Reports said Rinehart plans to bring attempted murder charges against Crimo for each person who was hurt.

Words in This Story

stranger– n. someone who you have not met before or do not know

navigate –v. to find the way to where you are trying to go; to deal with things or figure them out

orphan – n. a child whose parents are dead

miracle –n. an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of God

1 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

2 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

3 heal   

v.使愈合，治愈，使康复；平息(争吵等)；消除，解决(分支等)

参考例句：

• Time helped heal the old wounds.时间有助于治愈旧创伤。
• This wound will soon heal if yon keep it clean.如果你保持伤口清洁，它很快就会痊愈。

4 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

5 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

6 miracle   

n.奇迹，令人惊奇的人或事

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• It is simply a miracle that rice should grow in such a place.稻子竟能在这样的地方生长，这实在是个奇迹。

7 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。