And new details about the suspected gunman.
More details have emerged about the suspected gunman in the Highland Park, Ill. shooting, and how he plotted for weeks to carry out the deadly Independence Day attack. Here’s a look at what authorities know so far.
He wasn’t stopping there
The Highland Park gunman has admitted that he carried out the attack that cost seven people’s lives on July 4, saying he “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire.” After the Illinois shooting, Robert E. Crimo III reportedly drove to Madison, Wisconsin — where he “seriously contemplated” another attack.
Crimo saw “a celebration that was occurring … and he seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting in Madison,” according to a police spokesperson.
“We don’t have information to suggest he planned on driving to Madison initially to commit another attack. (But) we do believe that he was driving around following the first attack and saw the celebration,” Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesperson Chris Covelli added.
Crimo’s motive for the attack in Highland Park is still unknown, though he apparently has a focus on certain numbers.
“He had some type of affinity towards the numbers 4 and 7, and the inverse was 7/4,” Covelli said, referring to the date on Monday. Covelli explained that Crimo’s affinity “comes from music that he’s interested in.”
How was the suspect captured?
Robert E. Crimo III fired more than 70 rounds at the Fourth of July parade from a sniper’s nest, killing seven people and injuring dozens more, police siad. The suspected shooter dressed in women’s clothing, authorities believe, to conceal his distinctive face tattoos. Crimo, 21, then walked to his mother’s house, and “blended right in with everyone else as they were running around — almost as he was an innocent spectator as well,” Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli, of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, told CNN.
Crimo took off in his mother’s car to the Madison, Wis. area before turning back around toward Illinois, the New York Times reported. He was taken into custody Monday evening in a suburb near Highland Park.
The suspect had purchased five firearms, including the rifle used in the attack, in 2020 and 2021.
Who is Robert E. Crimo III?
The 21-year-old is from nearby Highwood, Ill. where he lived with his father and uncle. According to the Times, police had twice been called to the Crimo property in 2019 — once because someone reported Crimo had attempted suicide, and several months later because a family member reported Crimo was going to “kill everyone.” Police removed 16 knives, a dagger, and sword from the home, but had no probable cause to arrest him at the time.
His uncle, Paul Crimo, told local reporters that the alleged shooter had worked at a Panera Bread about two years ago but is now unemployed. “He didn’t go to college, he was a YouTube rapper,” he said in the interview.
Crimo was known online as “Awake the Rapper,” posting his songs to Spotify and amateur music videos to Spotify, the Washington Post reports. (Both companies have since removed his content from their sites.) Some of the videos included disturbing imagery: According to the Post, one included an illustrated figure wearing what appears to be tactical gear and shooting a rifle while another figure kneels, begging for mercy.
Photos of Crimo at a rally for former President Trump have also surfaced. But his ideological leanings aren’t clear from his online record — a friend described Crimo to the Post as “consistently apolitical.”
What was his motive?
Investigators are still trying to pin that down, but believe based on preliminary information that it wasn’t motivated by racial or religious prejudice. Covelli on Tuesday called the rampage “completely random.”
Crimo was charged on Tuesday with seven counts of first-degree murder. More charges are expected, Eric F. Rinehart, the Lake County state’s attorney, said at a news conference. His first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, July 6.
