CHICAGO — The father of the alleged Highland Park shooting suspect that reportedly killed seven people and injured dozens of others at a July 4 parade has been charged with seven felonies.
Lake County State Attorney Eric Rinehart said Robert Crimo Jr. surrendered to police on Friday, according to The Associated Press. Crimo is expected to have a bond hearing on Saturday. Rinehart said Crimo’s charges are based on sponsoring his son’s gun license application in 2019, when he was then 19 years old.
“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenagers should have a weapon,” said Rinehart, according to the AP. “In this case, the system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew and he signed the form anyway.”
According to the AP, no further information has been released regarding the decision Rinehart’s office made this week to charge Crimo.
Robert Crimo III, the alleged shooter, reportedly attempted suicide with a machete in April 2019 and a family member accused him of making threats in September 2019 to kill people. According to the AP, both those reports came out before Crimo allegedly sponsored his son’s gun license application.
Officials said that Illinois State Police had previously looked over Robert Crimo III’s gun license application and found no reason to deny it, according to the AP. He had no arrests, no criminal record, no mental health problems, no orders of protection or any other behavior concerns.
Robert Crimo III was indicted on 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery by a grand jury in July, according to the AP.
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