A lawyer for the parents of the suspected highland park parade shooter downplayed the couple’s involvement in the case and said they are being “1,000% cooperative” with investigators.
Days earlier, the same lawyer, Steve Greenberg, had vented outrage on Twitter at supporters of assault weapons the parents helped the suspect obtain.
Illinois State police said in a statement this week that the suspect applied for a gun owner’s license in December 2019, when suspected Robert Crimo III was 19 – a minor for the purposes of the license – so his father sponsored the application. The application was filed three months after a family member reported that the suspect threatened “to kill everyone” in his family’s house, and police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword.
Crimo on Monday opened fire from a roof at the community’s Fourth of July Parade, killing seven people and wounding dozens more. He is being held without bail on seven counts of first-degree murder.
“The ‘system’ is trying to make this about parenting,” lawyer Steve Greenberg said in a Twitter post Wednesday. “The parents recognize that it is a legitimate concern.”
REASON: Police say suspect bought guns legally, disguised himself to escape parade
TIMELINE:How the Highland Park July 4th parade shooting unfolded
Here’s what we know Thursday:
Discovery of rifle was key to suspect’s capture
In the chaotic moments after the shooting stopped, the gunman initially evaded capture by dressing in women’s clothing and blending into the panicked crowd, Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said. But authorities traced the gun left at the scene to the suspect, he said, and within hours released his photo of him with the warning that he could be armed and dangerous.
A neighbor later saw him in the vehicle and called 911. A few hours after the shooting, a police officer pulled over Crimo a few miles north of the shooting scene and he was taken into custody without incident, Covelli said.
Mass shootings are trending younger. Experts have some idea why.
Some do it out of a perverse desire to make a difference in the world. Others are driven by mental illness, pandemic isolation or social media influences that turn them into hateful and sadistic monsters. But there’s one increasing commonality among America’s mass shooters: Their youth.
“They are trending younger. The ‘why,’ of course, is going to take a bit more research,” said Katherine Schweit, a former FBI agent who until 2017 headed the bureau’s Active Shooter Program. “But it appears that so many of them are crying out for attention – living through pandemic stress and getting indoctrinated online. And, you know, looking to be famous.” Read more here.
– Josh MeyerUSA TODAY
4 members of the same family wounded during parade carnage
Zoe Kolpack was standing with her family Monday morning along the Highland Park parade route when she heard the first gunshot. Then, a bullet shattered the 28-year-old woman’s femur.
Her father tried to shield her with his body and was struck, too. Amid the chaos, her husband and her brother-in-law were also hit by bullets. All were recovering from their wounds.
Just one family’s harrowing story was recounted by family friend Samantha Whitehead, 28, in an interview with USA TODAY as she sat beside Zoe Kolpack in her hospital room.
“It was horrible,” Whitehead told USA TODAY. “Horrifying.” Read more here.
– N’dea Yancey-Bragg
Contributing: The Associated Press
www.usatoday.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism