Suspect In Highland Park Fourth Of July Shooting Is Charged With 7 Counts Of First-Degree Murder
The Chicago-area shooting on the Fourth of July took the lives of seven innocent people and injured dozens more. Our country was hit especially hard by this mass shooting considering how close it was to the Uvalde mass shooting in May.
On Monday, a gunman started firing into a crowd from a rooftop at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, a suburb outside Chicago. Robert E. Crimo, 21, has been caught by authorities and is already facing charges for his crimes.
Suspect in Highland Park Fourth of July Shooting Is Charged with 7 Counts of First-Degree Murder
Authorities say that Crimo attempted suicide in April 2019, and officers were called to his home, where they spoke to his parents. He was apparently passed off to mental health professionals. In September 2019, a report was filed that Crimo threatened to kill people, which is when his knives were confiscated.
Officials are also saying that Crimo purchased a "high-powered rifle" in order to plan for this crime several weeks before it took place. He applied for a Firearm Owners Identification card in December 2019 when he was 19 years old; his father had to sponsor the application because he was under 21.
The shooter started firing into the crowd around 10:14 a.m. and he killed seven people while injuring dozens of others. He fired more than 70 bullets into the crowd. He's being charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, and Lake County state's attorney Eric F. Rinehart told the press that Crimo will face many additional charges. If Crimo is convicted of these murder charges, he'll have a mandatory prison sentence of life without parole.