‘The community stood behind us,’ say couple who owned Highland Park store from which shooter fired on Fourth of July parade

Earl Edelcup leans against a support beam while his wife Arden Edelcup adjusts merchandise at the store they used to own, Ross Cosmetics, 625 Central Ave., Highland Park. The couple owned the store on July 4, 2022, when authorities say Robert Crimo climbed to the roof of the building and opened fire, killing seven and wounding dozens at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade. (Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times)

Ross Cosmetics was closed for Independence Day on July 4, 2022.

But, as any business owner knows, being closed to the public doesn’t mean there still isn’t work to be done. So Earl Edelcup, who owned the Highland Park variety store with his wife, Arden, thought he’d go in to the small, windowless office tucked behind a gray curtain in the back of the store and get some paperwork done.