The father of the alleged gunman from the Highland Park mass shooting was charged with seven counts of reckless conduct, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart announced Friday afternoon.
Robert E. Crimo III is accused of fatally shooting seven people and wounding dozens of others who lined the streets of Highland Park for its Fourth of July parade earlier this year.
In 2019, Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son’s application for a gun permit because he was underage at the time. In early 2020, Crimo III got a state firearm owner’s identification card, despite his previous threats to kill himself and his family, authorities said back in July.
“Robert Crimo Jr., the father, took a reckless and unjustified risk to sign his son’s application for a firearm owner identification card,” Rinehart said.
Each count is for the seven people who were killed. Crimo Jr. surrendered himself on Friday and will appear before a judge on Saturday to set his bond.
He needed the FOID card to legally purchase the Smith & Wesson M&P15 semiautomatic rifle that police and prosecutors said he used to carry out the Fourth of July massacre.
Police recovered the rifle in Highland Park and found another rifle in the car Crimo drove that day. He also had pistols in a home where he lived in nearby Highwood, authorities said.
The two rifles were bought legally in the Chicago area, authorities said.
Back in July, Brandon Kelly, director of the Illinois State Police, said there wasn’t enough evidence to deny Crimo III a FOID card based on the report of violent threats toward his family.
