A young boy who was discovered bloodied and alone during the Highland Park parade shooting on Monday was taken from under his father, who was shot in the attack.
The young boy, whose identity has not been published, was discovered by Deerfield residents Lauren Silva, 38, and her boyfriend as they were walking to breakfast at Walker Bros restaurant and heard gunshots.
Silva told the Daily Beast that they left a parking structure a few blocks from the shooting as the shooting was starting.
‘We were just opening the door to walk up the stairs and we heard it…boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,’ she told the Beast. ‘And it sounded like someone was, like, pounding on the glass doors.’
At least six people were killed and dozens more were injured in the shooting.
Silva and her boyfriend and his son began running toward those who were injured, when suddenly, her boyfriend thrusted the little boy into her arms.
‘My boyfriend handed me this little boy and said he was underneath this father who was shot in the leg,’ she told the Beast.
‘They were trying to stop the bleeding so I brought the boy downstairs into the garage.’
Once inside the garage, she managed to clean out his scrapes and washed the blood off him. She said he was wearing one shoe and his sock was covered in blood.
‘He kept asking if mom and dad are going to come back soon,’ she told the Beast.
After waiting for 20 minutes, Silva emerged from the parking garage to check on the father.
In an effort to learn more about the boy’s parents, DailyMail.com has been in touch with the Highland Park Police Department.
The boy was apparently given to a family Silva was holed up in the garage with, who took him to the hospital and then gave him to authorities. According to Silva, he eventually found his grandparents.
Fox 32 Chicago said that Dana Ruder Ring, who was allegedly caring for the infant until 8 o’clock, released the boy’s original photo to aid in his identification.
He is too young to know his parents’ identities, she told Fox 32.
Silva, a mother of two, said she is holding on to the memory of the ‘kid’s face and his touch and the sound of his voice.’ She said: ‘I feel like I want to hold on to, like, a little bit of emotion that I feel—which is telling that boy that his dad was going to come back.’
Robert “Bobby” Crimo, 21, the shooter, has been detained and is facing charges.
Shortly after 10am, he started firing from a rooftop along the parade route with an AR-15-style weapon.
According to police, Crimo used a woman’s outfit as a disguise and was able to blend in with the crowd of terrified onlookers to elude capture.
About eight hours after the incident, he was ultimately taken into custody.