Above: This photograph was taken the day after the shootings. “My skaters showed up that day, even though they had been through an awful experience,” coach Kimmie Dinicola said. “I was so proud of them. Lots of tears that day, but they wanted to come and be with their team and their coach, and it was amazing.”
By Kama Stigall
Independence Day is supposed to be a day of celebration. In Highland Park, Illinois, however, it turned into a nightmare. As residents gathered for the annual Highland Park Fourth of July Parade, a 21-year-old man shot and killed seven people and injured dozens more.
The skating community in Highland Park has been touched by this tragedy. Kimmie Dinicola is a coach at Centennial Ice Arena and has deep ties to the parade.
“My dad was a Highland Park firefighter, so we walked in and attended the parade our whole lives,” she said.
Dinicola is a native of Highland Park who typically attends the parade each year. She, however, was not in attendance at this year’s event. Dinicola and her family were at their home during the morning of July 4 when they received the news.
“My husband Jon is now a Waukegan firefighter, and he also works as an emergency room tech at Highland Park Hospital,” Dinicola said. “My husband came off a 48-hour shift and we decided to skip the parade that morning for the first time in years. He was making breakfast when his phone went off. He dropped what he was doing and said, ‘I have to go in and help.’”
Among the injured were Mike and Marcia Moran, whose daughter Peyton is coached by Dinicola.
“Marcia was shot in the foot and Mike in the leg,” she said. “I was able to talk to Marcia while she was in the emergency room, and immediately called Peyton to make sure she was OK. Peyton and I texted and talked multiple times that day to stay in touch. This was such a scary experience for her – I cannot imagine.”
Many of Dinicola’s students and their families attended the parade and witnessed the horrific event firsthand.
“Another student and her mother were seated right underneath the shooter,” Dinicola said. “They ran for their lives and ended up hiding out in a local grocery story basement until the police came in, guns drawn, to evacuate them from there.”
It will likely take months, even years, for Highland Park to heal from this collective experience. However, the city’s deep sense of kinship will help to carry it through.
“The Highland Park community is amazing,” she said. “The high school is open to anyone who needs a therapist or someone to talk to, and many people are using these resources. There are vigils and ceremonies going on all over.”
For the skaters and their families, they will lean on each other to get through this difficult time.
“I’ve always promoted more of a team environment, even though figure skating is an individual sport,” Dinicola said. “My kids are expected to support each other and be there for each other. This horrific event has really made me so happy that my skaters have always had this experience, because they need each other more than ever, and I am so proud of them and the strength they have shown.”
