The 21-year-old man accused of shooting at a crowd during US Independence Day celebrations and killing seven has planned a second attack, police spokesman Christopher Covelli said on Wednesday.
Robert E. Crimo 3º would have planned, still on Monday (4), a shooting in the city of Madison, capital of the state of Wisconsin, which borders Illinois, where the first attack was carried out hours before.
Crimo was arrested and now faces seven counts of first-degree murder. He was denied bail at a hearing on Wednesday, which he participated in via video call and said little. The young man only confirmed that he did not have a private lawyer, so a public defender was appointed to his case.
Prosecutor Ben Dillon said during the session that Crimo confessed to the attack on Highland Park, outside Chicago, shortly after he was arrested by police. Information shared by the authorities on Tuesday (5) shows that he fired more than 70 random shots into the crowd and planned the attack for weeks.
Judge Theodore Potkonjak, who denied bail, said Crimo poses a threat to the community and should therefore remain in prison. If convicted of all seven counts, he will receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Lake County Attorney Eric Reinhart said at the hearing.
“These are just the first of many charges that will be brought against him,” the prosecutor told reporters shortly afterwards. “We anticipate dozens more indictments centering on each of the victims.”
Police said casualties from Crimo, who shot from a rooftop, ranged from people over 80 to children as young as 8. The six who died later on Monday were of legal age, police said. The seventh person killed, who died on Tuesday, has not been identified. More than 40 people were also injured.
Crimo used a semi-automatic rifle in the shooting, a weapon that was found at the scene, and had a similar one in his mother’s car, who was driving when he was arrested, prosecutors said. Lake County reported that he legally purchased five guns, but it is unclear how Crimo was able to access them.
Illinois has a law requiring background checks on firearms buyers, and Crimo had twice been on the police radar. First in April 2019, when he attempted suicide, and then in September of that year, when he allegedly threatened members of his family.
Police said they had no immediate evidence of any anti-Semitic or racist motivation for the attack, but are continuing to investigate the videos that Crimo posted on social media – he was a rapper and had published a series of content mentioning gun violence.
The local Highland Park community has a large Jewish community, and one of the victims collaborated with a local synagogue.
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