HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — A prosecutor in suburban Chicago said Tuesday that the gunman accused of attacking an Independence Day parade has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder.
Lake County District Attorney Eric Rinehart has promised that dozens more charges will be filed. He added that the suspect, if convicted of murder, would receive a mandatory life sentence without parole.
THIS IS UPDATED NEWS. The earlier AP story is below.
The gunman who attacked an Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb, killing at least seven people, had legally purchased two high-powered rifles and three other weapons, even though authorities were called to his home twice in 2019 after making threats of suicide and violence, police said Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force said at a news conference that the suspected shooter, who was arrested late Monday, used a high-powered rifle “similar to an AR-15” to fire more than 70 rounds from the top of a commercial building in the crowd gathered for the parade in Highland Park, an affluent community of about 30,000 on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Police said they were called to the suspect’s home in September 2019 after a family member called to say he was threatening to “kill everyone” there. Task force spokesman Christopher Covelli said police had seized 16 knives, a dagger and a sword, but said there was no indication he had a weapon at the time.
The suspect legally purchased the rifle used in the Illinois attack last year, Covelli said. Police said he purchased a total of five firearms that were recovered by officers at his father’s home.
Police in April 2019 also responded to a reported suicide attempt by the suspect, Covelli said.
It was unclear whether Crimo’s past contacts with police would have prevented him from obtaining an Illinois gun owner’s license. State police, which issue the licenses, did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press asking about his eligibility.
A day after the shooting, authorities reported the death of a seventh person. More than three dozen other people were injured in the attack, which Covelli said the suspect had been planning for several weeks.
Investigators who questioned the suspect and reviewed his social media posts did not establish a motive for the attack or find any indication that he targeted victims based on race, religion or other protected status, Covelli said.
Authorities have not filed criminal charges.
Earlier in the day, FBI agents peered into trash cans and under picnic blankets as they searched for more evidence at the site where the gunman opened fire. The shots were initially mistaken for fireworks before hundreds of revelers fled in terror.
A day later, baby carriages, lawn chairs and other items left behind by panicked parade-goers remained in a wide police perimeter. Outside the police tape, some residents came forward to collect blankets and chairs they left behind.
David Shapiro, 47, said the spattering of gunfire quickly turned the parade into “chaos.”
“People didn’t immediately know where the gunfire was coming from, whether the shooter was in front of you or behind you chasing you,” he said Tuesday as he put away a stroller and lounge chairs.
The shooting was another that shattered the rituals of American life. Schools, churches, grocery stores, and now public parades have all become killing grounds in recent months. This time, the bloodshed came as the nation tried to find a reason to celebrate its founding and the bonds that still hold it together.
“It definitely hits a lot harder when not only is it your hometown, but it’s right in front of you,” resident Ron Tuazon said as he and a friend walked back to the parade route Monday night to pick up chairs, blankets and a children’s bicycle that his family left behind when the shooting began.
“It’s commonplace now,” Tuazon said. “We don’t blink anymore. Until the laws change, everything will always be the same.
A police officer stopped Robert E. Crimo III north of the shooting scene several hours after police released his photo and warned that he was possibly armed and dangerous, Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said.
Law enforcement officials gave his age as 21 or 22. His father, Bob, a longtime deli owner, is running for mayor in 2019.
After evading initial capture by dressing as a woman and blending in with the fleeing crowd, Crimo drove to the Madison, Wisconsin area, then returned to Illinois, Covelli said.
The shooting happened at a spot along the parade route where many residents staked out prime viewing spots earlier in the day.
Among them was Nicolas Toledo, who was visiting family in Illinois from Mexico. He was shot and died at the scene, his granddaughter, Xochil Toledo, told the Chicago Sun-Times. Also killed was Jackie Sundheim, a lifelong congregant and “beloved” staff member at nearby North Shore Israel Congregation, which announced her death on its website.
Toledo’s granddaughter told the Sun-Times that Toledo spent most of his life in Morelos, Mexico. Xochil Toledo said she remembers looking up at her grandfather, who was in his late 70s, as a group walked by.
“He was so happy,” she said. “I’m happy to live in the moment.”
Xochil Toledo said her father tried to protect her grandfather and was shot in the arm. Her boyfriend was also shot in the back and taken to hospital.
Sundheim spent decades on the staff of North Shore Congregation Israel, teaching at the congregation’s preschool and later coordinating events, “all with tireless dedication,” the congregation said in a statement announcing her death.
“Jackie’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all,” the statement said.
The Lake County Medical Examiner released the names of four other victims: Katherine Goldstein, 64, Irina McCarthy, 35, Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Steven Strouse, 88.
Nine people, ranging in age from 14 to 70, remained hospitalized Tuesday, hospital officials said.
Since the beginning of the year, the U.S. has seen 15 shootings that killed four or more people, including the one in Highland Park, according to the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Homicide Database.
Dozens of smaller shootings in nearby Chicago also left eight people dead and 60 others injured over the July 4 weekend.
In 2013, Highland Park officials approved a ban on semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. A local doctor and the Illinois State Rifle Association quickly disputed the liberal suburb’s position. The legal battle ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, when justices declined to hear the case and let the suburb’s restrictions stand.
Crimo, who goes by the name Bobby, was an aspiring rapper under the stage name Awake the Rapper, posting dozens of videos and songs, some gruesome and violent, on social media.
In one animated video, since taken down from YouTube, Crimo raps about armies “walking in the dark,” as a drawing of a man pointing a rifle, a body on the ground, and another figure with raised arms in the distance appears.
Federal agents were reviewing Crimo’s online profiles, and a preliminary review of his Internet history showed he had researched mass murders and downloaded numerous photos depicting violent acts, including beheadings, a law enforcement official said.
The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Shapiro, a Highland Park resident who fled the parade with his family, said his 2-year-old son woke up screaming later that night.
“He’s too young to understand what happened,” Shapiro said. “But he knows something bad has happened.”
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Foody reported from Chicago. Groves reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Associated Press writers Don Babin in Chicago, Mike Householder in Highland Park and Mike Balsamo in New York also contributed.
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