The suspected gunman in the deadly Highland Park, Illinois, shooting at an Independence Day parade has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
DARK FIGURE HOLDING RIFLE PAINTED ON HOUSE OF SUSPECTED HIGHLAND PARK SHOOTER’S PARENTS
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart revealed the charges against Crimo and vowed there will be more counts in the future at a press briefing Tuesday. “These are just the first of many charges that will be filed against Mr. Crimo,” Rinehart said. “There will be dozens more charges against Mr. Crimo.”
Crimo will face a mandatory life sentence without the chance of parole if convicted, the prosecutor said.
The Lake County state’s attorney also pushed for an “assault weapons” ban when discussing Illinois’s red flag laws and how they could prevent mass shootings.
“But separate from these red flag laws, which are very powerful in Illinois, we should also ban assault weapons in Illinois and beyond,” Rinehart said. “The assault weapon ban was implemented in 1994 with bipartisan support and with the support of law enforcement. It lasted for 10 years.”
Rinehart said prosecutors will ask a judge on Wednesday to hold Crimo without the possibility of bail.
John R. Lausch Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said the state charges announced Tuesday are “appropriate at this time” and pledged to work with local law enforcement. He would not say whether there will be federal charges in the future.
Crimo had two previous encounters with law enforcement in 2019, police revealed earlier on Tuesday. The first was with respect to a report of an attempted suicide and the most recent being in September of that year regarding a “mental health issue” in which Crimo threatened to kill members of his family. Police removed 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword from his home at the time, though no family members filed a complaint, according to authorities.
Authorities said they do not have knowledge of any firearms that Crimo owned at the time of his last contact with police, though he subsequently purchased firearms in 2020 and 2021.
State police said Crimo did not have a firearm owners ID card, which is required for Illinois residents to possess a firearm or ammunition, as of September 2019, so there was nothing to “review” or “revoke” on their end. Crimo, while under 21 and sponsored by his father, did not appear to present a “clear and present danger” when he applied for a card to purchase guns when a review was conducted in January 2020, a month after an application was filed, state police added.
Police said they found five guns in the home of Crimo’s father, including two rifles, pistols, and “possibly a shotgun.” Authorities described the gun used in the parade attack as a high-powered rifle but have not specified what type.
Illinois State Police explain why Crimo was allowed to get a FOID card that enabled him to purchase guns in January 2020 — even though he was too dangerous for knives in September of 2019 pic.twitter.com/okll4KqrMA
— Stacy St. Clair (@StacyStClair) July 5, 2022
Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, said the FBI’s victims service response team, in conjunction with local, state, and federal officials, will open a family assistance center Wednesday.
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The shooting left seven dead and injured dozens more who were attending a July Fourth parade in the Chicago suburb. Six of the dead, all adults, were identified by officials on Tuesday.
Crimo opened fire from a rooftop and had been planning the attack for “several weeks,” according to law enforcement. Officials have not stated a suspected motive for the shooting. However, a “significant amount of digital evidence” helped lead investigators to zero in on the person of interest, Covelli said in announcing that Crimo had been taken into custody roughly eight hours after the shooting on Monday.
