Hours after the shootings disrupted the July 4th parade in Highland Park, Illinois, with the deaths of six people and dozens more injured, police arrested the man they believe was responsible.
Authorities allege that 21-year-old Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III climbed onto the roof of a nearby business and opened fire on the parade minutes after it began. He has since been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder.
If convicted, he will face a maximum life sentence with no possibility of parole, Illinois State Attorney Eric Reinhard said while announcing the charges at a news conference.
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The prosecutor said the first-degree charges would likely be followed by dozens of additional charges.
He said he would ask that Crimo remain in custody without bail in the suspect’s first appearance in court on Wednesday.
Robert ‘Bobby’ E. Crime III. Credit: via CNN
Investigators believe the defendant planned “this attack for several weeks,” Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, told a news conference Tuesday.
He dressed in women’s clothing to help hide his identity, Covelli said, mingled with the crowd as they fled the area and went to his mother’s home.
Law enforcement has not yet established any motive, but Covelli said there is no information to suggest the attack was “motivated by race, religion or any other protected state.” There are no indications that anyone else is involved, Covelli said.
Crimo was arrested shortly after police publicly identified him as a “person of interest” who the FBI said he “was looking for for his alleged involvement in the shooting of several people” at the Valentine’s Day parade. Independence of Highland Park.
He grabbed his mother’s vehicle and a community member saw him, Covelli said. That individual called 911 and North Chicago police made a traffic stop and arrested him.
This is what we know about him.
He legally obtained the weapon used, the mayor says
The suspect legally bought the weapon he used in Monday’s shooting, Covelli said Tuesday, describing it as a “high-powered rifle” that fired high-velocity ammunition.
The weapon, which he described as “similar to an AR-15,” was purchased locally, Covelli said, in the Chicagoland area.
Investigators believe he fired more than 70 meats during the attack, Covelli said, and there is no evidence that the weapon was modified.
Crimo also legally bought a second rifle found in his vehicle at the time he was arrested, as well as other firearms recovered from his residence, which Covelli described as handguns.
Lifeguards attend the scene of a shooting at the July 4 parade. Credit: Jim Vondruska / Getty Images
Evidence of a firearm was found on the roof of a business near the shooting, said Covelli, who described the weapon as a “high-powered rifle.”
At the time, authorities were working to locate the firearm to find out who bought it and its origins, according to the spokesman for the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Kim Nerheim.
The accelerated firearm trace was “an important point in the investigation,” Covelli said Tuesday and helped identify the suspect along with eyewitness statements and community videos.
A total of 39 patients were treated at four NorthShore University HealthSystem hospitals, according to spokesman Jim Anthony, who said nine patients remained hospitalized in the system as of Tuesday afternoon.
According to officials, the 21-year-old Chicago parade shooting suspect bought his gun legally. Credit: EPA
Four are in good condition, four stable and one, a 69-year-old man, was in critical condition.
Eight of the nine patients suffered gunshot wounds, including the 69-year-old man, Anthony said.
According to Highwood Police Chief Dave Wentz, police in Highwood, Illinois, the suspect’s hometown on the outskirts of Highland Park, had no previous crime-related interaction with Crime.
The only contact the department had with Crimo involved a non-criminal incident in which Crimo was present when he was a young man, Wentz said.
“We literally have nothing on him,” Wentz said. “I wasn’t potentially involved in anything.”
He posted violent images online
The alleged shooter posted music on several major streaming platforms under the pseudonym Awake the Rapper, and appears to have made and posted music videos online with ominous lyrics and animated scenes of armed violence.
In a video titled You’re Awake, you see a cartoon animation of a shooter with stick figures resembling the appearance of the suspect with tactical equipment and making an attack with a rifle.
Crimo, seen with multicolored hair and tattoos on his face, narrates, “I just need to do it. It’s my destiny.”
In another video titled Toy Soldier, a similar stick figure is depicted resembling the suspect lying face down on the ground in a puddle of his own blood, surrounded by police officers with unsheathed weapons.
Law enforcement is reviewing the videos posted online, Covelli told a news conference Tuesday, noting that police had not been reported before. “We’ll look at them and see what they reveal.”
Law enforcement escorts a family away from the scene of a shooting. Credit: Mark Borenstein / Getty Images
Several of the suspect’s online posts “reflected a plan and a desire to commit carnage well in advance,” Mayor Rotering said in an interview with NBC.
“And it’s one of those things where you step back and say, what happened? How did someone get so angry and hateful, “he said,” and then do it with innocent people who were literally just spending a day with family? “
YouTube and Spotify removed content linked to the suspect from their platforms, the companies confirmed Tuesday. They declined to answer questions about whether the content had been flagged or previously reported for violations of their respective terms of service. The companies also refused to say exactly when they removed the suspect’s contents.
CNN has also contacted Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Pandora with similar questions, but companies have yet to answer.
His uncle says he saw no warning signs
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering met the suspect years ago, when she was the leader of the Cub Scout group, she told CNN, “Many years ago, I was just a small child, a quiet child that I knew”.
“It breaks my heart. I see this image and through the tattoos, I see the little boy,” he said. “I don’t know what brought him to this point.”
The suspect’s uncle, Paul A. Crimo, had a “broken heart” when he learned that his nephew was believed to be responsible for Monday’s shooting, and told CNN, “There was no evidence I saw that they made him do that. “
The suspect lived in an apartment behind a house in Highwood, Illinois, owned by his father, said Paul Crimo, who also lives in the house. He said he last saw his nephew on Sunday evening, sitting in a recliner in the house and looking at his computer.
The dashcam video appears to show the moment police arrest a suspect in the mass shooting. Credit: NBC / NBC
“Everything was normal,” he said.
As Paul Crimo learned, his nephew had no job, he told CNN, although he worked at Panera Bread before the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul Crimo said he had never seen the suspect engage in violence or worrying behavior.
Nor did she know of her nephew’s political views, describing him as a “quiet” person.
“He’s usually alone. He’s a lonely, quiet person. He keeps everything to himself.”
The suspect’s father and Paul Crimo’s brother, Robert Crimo Jr., previously appeared before the mayor, he said. “We’re good people here, and having that is devastating.”
“I am very saddened by all the families who lost their lives,” Paul Crimo said.