Katherine Goldstein, a 64-year-old wife and mother of two, was one of the victims of the Highland Park shooting on July 4th. And her daughter, 22-year-old Cassie Goldstein, stood by her side, recalling her final moments.
In an interview with NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt this past Tuesday, Goldstein spoke on the traumatic incident, sharing her mother’s final moments.
Daughter Recalls Mother’s Last Moments During Highland Park Shooting
“She was waving to the floats, every float that went by, she waved to them,” Goldstein said of her mother that day. But then, everything shifted in mere seconds.
“I looked up, and I saw the shooter shooting down at the kids,” she explained. “I told (mom) it was a shooter, and she had to run. So I started running with her, and we were next to each other.” That is until she fell.
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“He shot her in the chest,” Goldstein said. “She fell down, and I knew she was dead. So I just told her I loved her, and I couldn’t stop because he was still shooting everyone next to me.”
In her grief, Goldstein keeps close to what she once had. “I got 22 years with her,” she shared. “I got to have 22 years with the best mom in the world.”
The suspected gunman, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder in the wake of Monday morning’s mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. More charges are expected, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said.
There will also be a criminal investigation into the culpability of his father as he sponsored his son’s application for a firearm owner identification card in 2019, state police said Wednesday.
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Crimo, who appeared in court via Zoom for his first appearance Wednesday, showed no emotion as a prosecutor outlined the attack and read the victims’ names.
This past Tuesday, the Lake County Coroner’s Office released the names of six of the seven people who died Monday. In addition to Katherine Goldstein, they include Irina McCarthy, 35, Kevin McCarthy, 37, Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63, Stephen Straus, 88, and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78.
Prosecutors said that Crimo confessed to Monday morning’s parade massacre.
A witness reported seeing an individual with a gun on a building rooftop “scanning the ground with a gun,” Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said.
Police discovered three empty 30-round magazines and 83 spent shell casings on the rooftop per prosecutors. Crimo informed police he wore women’s clothing during the shooting and used makeup to hide his facial tattoos and blend in with the crowd, prosecutors said.
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