Highland Park shooter faces 7 murder charges, threatened to kill his family in 2019 [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Highland Park shooting suspect was able to legally purchase multiple firearms, including the murder weapon, after a suicide attempt and a threat to kill his family in 2019.
• In April 2019, police were contacted after Robert E. Crimo III had threatened to commit suicide, and in September 2019, he threatened to “kill everyone” at his house.
• Crimo faces seven counts of first-degree murder charges over the mass shooting.

Warning signs about the Highland Park shooting suspect were clearly missed.

Authorities revealed Tuesday that police were called twice in 2019 to the home of Robert E. Crimo III. The first was in April 2019 when someone contacted Highland Park police after Crimo had threatened to commit suicide, Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, said at a press conference. Authorities treated the case as a mental health emergency.

The second time was in September 2019 after Crimo threatened to “kill everyone” at his house. Police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from his home. Covelli added that local police notified state troopers – who issue Illinois gun permits – about the threat.

Crimo was not arrested because there was no probable cause for officers to make an arrest. Cops also had no information to believe that Crimo owned any guns at the time. 

The suspect was able to legally purchase multiple firearms, including the weapon he used to carry out the shooting at the Fourth of July parade which left at least seven dead.

According to Covelli, Crimo, 21, owned a total of five firearms — the rifle he used in the mass shooting, the one that was found in his car when he was arrested, pistols and a shotgun seized at his father’s home. 

Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek announced the names of the six people killed in the shooting and said that a seventh person has died at a hospital. 

Husband and wife Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were among the fatalities. The two-year-old toddler found wandering around the area after the deadly shooting was identified as their son Aiden.

According to reports, Crimo opened fire atop a building near the parade route, sniper-style. He used a ladder to climb atop the commercial building and allegedly disguised himself in “women’s clothing” to flee and blend in among the panicked crowd. Police pulled Crimo over about five miles north of the parade route Monday after obtaining surveillance video footage of him and his mother’s car, Covelli said.

Source: The Guardian