‘Feeling helpless’: North Shore man offers up service dog to Highland Park parade shooting survivors

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (WLS) — One North Shore man is offering his time and effort to heal a community, left broken.

“I was feeling, what could I do? And how could I help? Obviously, in a situation that is horrendous and hasn’t happened in the North Shore probably in 30 or 40 years,” Doug Ross said.

Ross came to Highland Park High School Tuesday morning with his 6-year-old service dog, Jasper.

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He said he’s just a man from the North Shore, doing what he can to mend the hearts of others.

“Feeling helpless, I knew that we have two service dogs. We are handlers for service dogs, and I felt that they could be of use,” Ross said.

Zachary Katznelson, 17, was glad to see Jasper after facing such tragedy and carnage 24 hours ago.

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He was in the band, part of the holiday parade that went down Central Avenue.

“I was in the front, and a few minutes before the shooting happened, I was right where it was. I just feel so lucky. I have some of that luck guilt that it could’ve been me. It could’ve been any of us in the band,” Katznelson said.

He came to his high school Tuesday, where he spoke with grief counselors — ready and available to help those impacted by Monday’s tragedy move forward.

“Definitely beneficial! The therapist gave us strategies such as thinking of that place where we feel at our center, or being happy. That was the biggest thing I took away from it,” Katznelson said.