HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. – The man accused of fatally shooting seven people and wounding dozens more at a Fourth of July parade has confessed to the rampage and considered another attack in Wisconsin, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said Robert E. Crimo III voluntarily admitted to the shooting to police when taken into custody several hours after the shooting.
"He went into details about what he had done," Rinehart said. "He admitted to what he had done."
No motive has been revealed. Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said that after the shooting Crimo drove to Madison, Wisconsin, about 150 miles northwest of Highland Park – and encountered another holiday event.
"He seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting," Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said. But Crimo apparently decided against it because he had not prepared for it, Covelli said. Crimo instead returned to Illinois, where he was apprehended.
Covelli said some of the dozens of people wounded in Highland Park remain in critical condition and that more deaths could result.
HOW TO HELP:Fundraisers and other ways to help Highland Park victims
Latest developments:
►Rinehart said he expects to file an attempted murder count against the suspect for each person who was wounded and additional counts for people who might not have been hit.
►A judge ordered the suspect held without bail Wednesday on seven counts of first-degree murder. At the hearing, prosecutors said police found the shells of 83 bullets and three ammunition magazines on the rooftop from which authorities say Crimo opened fire.
►Federal agents reviewing the Highland Park suspect's internet history indicated he had researched mass killings and downloaded photos depicting violent acts, including a beheading, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official could not discuss details of the probe publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
►Police in Richmond, Virginia, said Wednesday that they thwarted a planned July 4 mass shooting after receiving a tip that led to arrests and seizure of multiple guns.
►Vice President Kamala Harris visited the shooting site late Tuesday. "The whole nation should understand and have a level of empathy to understand that this can happen anywhere, in any peace-loving community," she said. "And we should stand together."
Suspect legally purchased gun despite ominous previous issues
Crimo legally purchased the rifle used in the attack in Illinois within the past year despite ominous run-ins with police in 2019. Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said the 21-year-old suspect, who was arrested late Monday, used a rifle “similar to an AR-15” open fire from a rooftop at the parade crowd. The suspect had purchased five firearms, including one rifle found at the scene, one found in his car and other weapons seized from his father's home.
Illinois state police, who issue gun owners’ licenses, said the suspect applied for a license in December 2019, when he was 19. His father sponsored his application. At the time “there was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger” and deny the application, state police said in a statement.
Yet Crimo was the subject of two police visits in the months before the application was sought. In September 2019 he threatened "to kill everyone'' in the house, and police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword. Covelli said there was no sign he had any guns at the time. Five months earlier, police responded to a reported suicide attempt.
How police caught the Highland Park shooter
The shooting prompted a massive manhunt involving hundreds of federal, state and local authorities. The gunman initially evaded capture in the minutes after the carnage by dressing in women's clothing and blending into the panicked crowd, Covelli said.
Authorities traced the gun left at the scene to the suspect and released his photo with the warning that he could be armed and dangerous. Covelli said the suspect walked to a family home before driving away. A neighbor later saw him in the vehicle and called 911. A few hours after the shooting, a police officer pulled him over a few miles north of the shooting scene and he was taken into custody without incident, Covelli said.
TIMELINE:How the Highland Park July 4th parade shooting unfolded
What gun did the suspect use?
Covelli has described the gun as a "high-powered rifle" similar to the semiautomatic AR-15. Few other details have been released.
Under Illinois law, gun purchases can be denied to people convicted of felonies, addicted to narcotics or those who are termed “mental defectives” and capable of harming themselves or others.
The suicide call in 2019 might have been enough to keep the suspect from getting a weapon. But under the law, “mental defective” must be decided by “a court, board, commission or other legal authority.”
The state has a so-called red flag law designed to stop dangerous people before they kill, but it requires family members, relatives, roommates or police to ask a judge to order guns seized.
MOTIVE A MYSTERY:Police say Highland Park suspect bought guns legally, disguised himself to escape parade. But motive remains a mystery.
Music festival other events canceled in Highland Park
Highland Park officials canceled summer events through next week, including World Music Fest set for July 16.
"This summer, the city has celebrated the return of traditional and new events after two years of pandemic-related cancellations," officials said in a Facebook post. "The devastating attack at the city’s Fourth of July Parade was a horrific, heartbreaking incident for a close-knit community that values connections between neighbors and treasures opportunities to gather together. The city extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims."
GoFundMe raises $2 million for orphaned 2-year-old boy
After gunfire rang out during a mass shooting that killed seven people Monday in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, a 2-year-old boy wandered the street, bloody and alone. Over the course of the day, strangers found him and mobilized the community of Highland Park to find Aiden McCarthy's family as neighbors shared his photo across social media with pleas to help identify him.
"The North Shore community rallied to help a boy who we knew nothing about," according to a verified GoFundMe page organized for him that has raised more than $2 million. "We took him to safety under tragic circumstances, came together to locate his grandparents, and prayed for the safety of his family." Read more here.
– Christine Fernando, USA TODAY
Pursuit of American dream: 'It's not safe anymore'
Benny Martinez watched in horror from her lawn as screaming parade-goers came streaming down the hill, fleeing a gunman who opened fire on her beloved small-town. Her coworker Olivia Rodriguez was at work and watching the parade when she heard shots from what sounded like a "powerful gun," she said.
The two women told USA TODAY they each moved from Mexico to the United States more than two decades ago in pursuit of the American dream. Hours after a man fired into the parade crowd from a rooftop, killing seven people and injuring more than 30, they reflected on their experience – and what it means to live in America today.
"I worry about my kids," Martinez said Tuesday. "It's not safe anymore."
7th person dies; authorities identify 6 other victims
The gunman's rampage claimed its seventh victim Tuesday, and the identities of the other six fatalities released by police. More than three dozen other people were wounded in the attack.
Five of the six identified victims lived in Highland Park. The exception was Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, who hailed from Morelos, Mexico. The other five who died Monday were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Irina McCarthy, 35; Kevin McCarthy, 37; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; and Stephen Straus, 88.
The victims included a dedicated synagogue worker, the parents of a 2-year-old son and a grandfather watching the festivities from his wheelchair. Read more here.
– Cady Stanton, Christine Fernando and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
Contributing: The Associated Press
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