2-year-old Aiden McCarthy orphaned after parents killed in Illinois shootings

Photos of Aiden McCarthy have been shared massively on social media in the hours following the July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, where at least seven people were killed and 39 injured.

Authorities confirmed that the boy's parents, Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were among the seven people killed during the parade.

"After the shooting in Highland Park on July 4, the North Shore community came together to help a child we knew nothing about. We brought him to safety under tragic circumstances, rallied to locate his grandparents and prayed for his family's safety," resident Irina Colon wrote after creating a GoFundMe page.

"At two years old, Aiden is left in an inconceivable situation: growing up without his parents," she adds. "He will be cared for by his loving family and will have a long road ahead of him to heal, find stability and ultimately navigate life as an orphan."

Irina McCarthy's father, Michael Levberg, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Kevin died protecting his son.

"He had Aiden underneath his body when he was shot," Levberg indicated. Hours later, when Levberg looked for Aiden at the Highland Park police station, the little boy told him, "Mommy and Daddy are coming soon."

"They were crazy about their son," Levberg lamented. "They were planning to have another one."

The other fatalities were identified as: Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; and Nicolas Toledo Zaragoza, 78. Authorities have not yet identified the seventh victim.