HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. – A man arrested in connection with a deadly attack on a Chicago-area July Fourth celebration that killed six people appears to be an aspiring rapper who posted violent videos depicting disturbing acts of violence.
Authorities spent frantic hours Monday searching for Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, 22, and arrested him shortly before 7 pm local time following a short pursuit about six miles away from the shooting.
Television news video showed a silver Honda Fit – which authorities said Crimo was driving – stopped at an intersection, doors open. Crimo was described by police as a white man with dark hair, believed to be armed and dangerous, following the 10 am shooting that injured at least two dozen people.
“This individual is believed to have been responsible for what happened,” said Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli in announcing Crimo’s arrest. Covelli said a “significant amount of digital evidence” helped lead investigators to Crimo.
A North Chicago police officer spotted and briefly chased Crimo in nearby Lake Forest and “the subject was taken into custody without incident,” Highland Park police Chief Lou Jogmen said following the arrest. “This doesn’t necessarily mean this is over but we are certainly encouraged that we have a person of interest.”
LIVE UPDATES:Shooting rampage at Highland Park July 4th parade
WHAT IS HIGHLAND PARK:Affluent Chicago suburb reeling after July 4th shooting is known for films, family community
Authorities say the shooter fired from a rooftop into the crowd, and say they recovered a rifle from the scene. They initially stopped short of calling Crimo a suspect, describing him instead as a “person of interest,” but said the FBI was offering a reward for information.
A Chicago-based rapper of the same name and fitting the description given by police, including facial tattoos, performs under the name “Awake the Rapper” and has previously posted multiple videos of violent images, including a man with a rifle shooting people.
Another video I posted showed a cartoon character carrying a rifle later laying facedown in a pool of blood, surrounded by police officers. That same artist appeared to have posted a picture of a newspaper clipping on his bedroom wall referencing the death of Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated President John F. Kennedy with a rifle from an elevated location.
A two-story home listed as Crimo’s address was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles Monday evening. Several police cars and at least one armored vehicle were stationed outside, and journalists were being kept well away from the area. Neighbors said Crimo’s father, Bob Crimo, owned the nearby restaurant Bob’s Pantry & Deli.
Violent videos may be connected to man arrested in parade shooting
Violent videos that appear to be connected to Crimo were removed from YouTube in the hours after the shooting. The account posting the videos was suspended, but YouTube has not returned USA TODAY’s request for comment about the channel.
In a video for the Awake the Rapper song “Out of This World, drawings depict a gunman wearing a tactical vest and carrying a semi-automatic rifle, bodies on the ground around him. As he aims, a faceless figure raises its hands in surrender The gunman wears a helmet, with what appears to be a Go-Pro style camera attached to the helmet.Other images of seemingly anguished characters appear as the voice raps, “I just want to scream.Sometimes it feels like I’m living to dream.”
In another video posted by the same account, the images come in quick cuts, scrawled drawings of faceless characters interspersed with clips of a young man sitting on a bed, wearing a baseball cap. Then the drawn images shift to showing a character holding a semi-automatic rifle. Another faceless character appears to have blood emerging from its chest on him.
A young man who appears to be the same person with the ballcap then appears in a new outfit. He’s in a classroom setting, with blackboards on the walls, a row of lockers and a television mounted high above the doorway. An American flag hangs from a pole, and the man is wearing a helmet and a tactical vest.
The quick-cut video clips repeat, but the scenes in the classroom shift perspective. One shot shows the room from his perspective of him – but it is only wide enough for two sets of school-style desks side-by-side, in three rows, six desks in all. It’s unclear if the setting is a real school classroom or an elaborately staged set.
Next, the helmeted figure is at the lockers. Then he appears without his tactical gear, simply in the ballcap again. Next, in the tactical gear again, he kneels over a pile of papers on the floor, clutching his eyes at him. In another shot, the helmeted figure sits at one of the desks, at work on a sheet of notebook paper in front of him. A snake tattoo is visible across the back of his neck.
Contributing: Andrea Ball, Josh Susong, USA TODAY
feeds.feedblitz.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism