Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 21, faces seven first-degree murder charges in connection with the shooting, which authorities said he allegedly carried out on the roof of a nearby business and opening fire minutes after the parade began. sending parade attendees and participants running for safety.
Investigators believe the suspect planned “this attack for several weeks,” Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, said at one of several news conferences Tuesday. The suspect 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 yet to establish a motive, but Covelli said there is no information to suggest the attack had “racial motivation, motivated by religion or any other protected status.” There are no indications that anyone else is involved, Covelli said.
The suspect grabbed his mother’s vehicle and a community member saw him, Covelli said. That individual called 911, and then North Chicago police made a traffic stop and arrested him.
He is due to appear in court Wednesday and Eric Rinehart, Lake County’s state attorney, said he will ask a judge to keep Crimo detained without bail. Rinehart said “dozens more charges” will be added later. Attorney Thomas Durkin is representing Crime, he confirmed to CNN.
Attorney Steve Greenberg said Tuesday he represents Crimo’s parents and issued a statement attributing them.
“We are all mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and this is a terrible tragedy for many families, the victims, the parades, the community and our own,” the statement says. “Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go to everyone.”
COMPLETE BEARING COVERAGE
Here’s what we know about the suspect:
Police took knives from home after Crimo said he would kill people
In September 2019, Highland Park police went to Crimo’s home after a family member reported that he had said he would kill everyone, according to Covelli.
“The threat was directed at the family inside the house,” he said.
Police confiscated a collection of blade items – 16 knives, a dagger and a sword – but made no arrests because there were no signed complaints against Crimo. Highland Park police reported the visit to state police. At the time, involuntary engagement was not an option, Covelli said.
Local police filed a “Clear and Present Danger” report on the visit to Illinois state police, the agency said.
“The report states that when police went home and asked the individual if he felt like hurting himself or others, he said no,” state police said in a second statement. .
“More and more importantly, the father claimed that the knives were his and that they were stored in the individual’s closet to store them. Based on this information, Highland Park police returned the knives to the father later that afternoon, “state police added.
The master sergeant of the state police. Delilah Garcia said they looked to see if Crimo had a firearm owner identification (FOID) card that should have been revoked, but he had no card.
In a press release, Illinois state police officials said Crimo in December 2019 applied for a FOID card sponsored by his father.
“The subject was under the age of 21 (he was 19) and the application was sponsored by the subject’s father. Therefore, at the time of the review of the FOID application in January 2020, there was not enough basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application, “said state police.
In April 2019, local police went to the family home after receiving a report that Crimo had tried to take his life a week earlier. Officers spoke with him and his parents and were told mental health professionals were handling the matter, Covelli said.
Covelli later said the suspect bought five weapons, including two rifles, after the police visit in September.
He legally obtained the weapon used, officials say
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 bought 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 weapons recovered from his home, which Covelli described as handguns.
Between June 2020 and September 2021, Crimo passed four background checks while buying firearms. These background checks went through the Firearms Transaction Investigation Program (FTIP), which includes the national system of instant criminal background checks, state police said in a statement.
At the time, the only crime included in Crimo’s history was a violation of the January 2016 tobacco possession ordinance, and the facility or health personnel did not submit any mental health ban reports. to the state police, police said.
According to Chief Dave Wentz, police in Highwood, 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 where 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.”
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’s Hoda Kotb on Today.
“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 literally were they spending a family day? “
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 when she was its leader of the Cub Scout pack, she told CNN, “Many years ago, I was just a small child, a quiet child 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, owned by his father, said Paul Crimo, who also lives in the house. Sunday evening he saw his nephew for the last time, he said, sitting in a recliner in the house and looking at his computer.
“Everything was normal,” he said.
According to Paul Crimo, 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 he know of his 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.
CNN’s Taylor Romine, Joe Sutton, Jeff Winter, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, David Williams, Rebekah Riess, Brian Fung, and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.