The massacre has shaken the U.S. again and intensified what was already a polarizing debate over gun laws.
What was supposed to be a celebration of the nation’s identity and freedom became another horror story shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, when Crimo, armed with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle, began to spray bullets into the crowd, killing seven people. and injuring dozens of others.
Terrified parade attendees fled the July 4 Highland Park parade after they were shot, leaving their belongings behind as they sought safety. Credit: Chicago Sun-Times via AP
Among the victims was Katherine Goldstein, 64, whose daughter Cassie told NBC how she had been shot in the chest as they ran to escape the bullets.
“I knew she was dead, so I just told her I loved her, but I couldn’t stop because I was still shooting everyone next to me,” she said.
New questions have also arisen about how Crimo was able to avoid four background checks and buy five firearms despite a history of dangerous behavior.
In April 2019, for example, police assisted his family after he was charged with attempted suicide. Police returned in September of that year and ended up confiscating 16 knives, a dagger and a sword after a family member called to tell him he was threatening to “kill everyone.”
Dozens of bad guys gather for a vigil near Central Avenue and St Johns Avenue in downtown Highland Park. Credit: AP
However, in December 2019, Crimo applied for a gun owner’s ID card, which his father sponsored. He was later able to use this to legally buy his weapons.
When asked if this could pave the way for possible charges involving relatives, state attorney Eric Rinehart said, “I don’t want to answer that question right now as to what our job is still, look at all the information and evidence in this case “.
Loading
But he added that more needs to be done to educate the public and law enforcement agencies about “red flag” gun laws, in which police and family members can apply to a court. state ordering the temporary removal of firearms from someone they believe may present a problem. danger to others or to themselves.
In his first court appearance, Crimo, with his hair down to his shoulders and dressed in black, showed little emotion as the prosecutor explained how the suspect confessed to the attack after being arrested.
Crimo only spoke briefly to confirm that he did not have a lawyer, after which a public defender was appointed to represent him.
If convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder, he would face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. However, the seven charges are unlikely to be the only charges against him after the state’s attorney said there would be “many more charges” for each injured.
Loading
The attack on Highland Park was the latest in a series of mass shootings in recent months, just weeks after the Uvalde massacre in Texas, in which 19 schoolchildren and two teachers were killed, and the shooting of the Buffalo grocery store in New York, in which 10 people were killed in a predominantly black neighborhood.
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents about what is happening to headlines around the world. Subscribe to the weekly What in the World newsletter here.