Highland Park gunman Robert Crimo contemplated second shooting: authorities

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. — The Highland Park Fourth of July gunman confessed to cops that he slaughtered innocent parade-goers — and that he “seriously contemplated” shooting up another celebration later, officials said Wednesday.

Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, 21, had another rifle and approximately 60 rounds on him when he fled Highland Park after killing seven innocent people and injuring more than 40 others at a parade Monday, authorities said.

Dressed as a woman to aid his escape in the crowd, Crimo then allegedly drove toward the Madison, Wisc., area in his mother’s car. But he eventually returned to Illinois, where he was nabbed later that day, after deciding he wasn’t fully prepared to pull off the second shooting, according to authorities.

“While he was driving and he located this celebration occurring in the Madison area, he contemplated another attack with a firearm he had in his car,” Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli told a news conference.

“He seriously contemplated using the firearm in his vehicle to commit another shooting in Madison.

“[But] there are indications he didn’t put enough planning forward to commit another attack,” Covelli said.

The FBI later recovered the suspect’s cellphone, which he had ditched in Middleton, Wisc.

Investigators don’t yet know why Crimo drove to Wisconsin — or why he opted to head back toward the scene of the mass shooting — as the extensive manhunt for him was still underway.

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When he was finally nabbed just 5 miles away from the parade massacre, Crimo confessed to police that he’d unleashed the hail of gunfire after climbing onto the roof of a business in the wealthy Chicago suburb, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Reinhart said.

Crimo used a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle to fire more than 80 rounds at the parade-goers — stopping twice to reload, authorities said.

That weapon was recovered at the scene after Crimo, who also wore makeup to cover his tell-tale tattoos, allegedly dropped it as he made his escape.

Cops later found another rifle, a Kel Tec Sub-200, in Crimo’s car when he was arrested. Three other firearms — a Remington 700, a shotgun and a Glock 43 — were recovered from his home, officials said.

Authorities would not go into Crimo’s possible motive but did acknowledge he “had an affinity for the numbers 4 and 7” — which, when reversed, point to the date he carried out the massacre.

The obsession with the numbers “apparently comes from music that he’s interested [in],” Covelli said.

Questions are mounting over how Crimo was able to skirt Illinois’ relatively strict gun laws to legally purchase five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the massacre — despite two troubling encounters he had with law enforcement in 2019.

Authorities first visited his home in April 2019 after receiving a report Crimo had attempted suicide. They returned months later, in September 2019, following reports he was threatening to “kill everyone” in his home, Covelli said.

Police ended up confiscating 16 knives, a dagger and a sword in that incident, but said there was no sign he had any guns at the time.

An Illinois judge ordered Crimo to be held without bail during his initial court appearance Wednesday morning.

If convicted on the first-degree charges, Crimo faces a mandatory life prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

Reinhart, the state’s attorney, said he planned to bring attempted-murder and aggravated battery with a firearm charges for each person that was injured.

“Every time he fires a bullet at a person, he is committing aggravated discharge, whether he hits someone or not,” Reinhart said.

“There will be many, many more charges coming,” he added, estimating those charges would be announced later this month.

Reinhart said he is also speaking with US attorneys about possible federal charges.

“We are working with them constantly. Our cyber crime lab is in constant contact with FBI agents and we are all working together. It’s all hands on deck as we continue to monitor this active investigation,” he said.