The man allegedly responsible for the Highland Park, Illinois, mass shooting has a history with local police.
Christopher Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that the Highland Park Police Department had responded to Robert Crimo III’s residence two times in 2019.
The cops first arrived at Crimo’s home a week after he attempted suicide in April 2019.
Police later responded to Crimo’s home in September 2019 when the youth allegedly threatened to kill his entire family.
Cops confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword.
Highland Park police says they had two prior encounters with the shooter:
April 2019: Suicide attempt
Sept 2019: Family member said Crimo threatened to “kill everyone” and police removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword but found no probable cause to arrest. pic.twitter.com/wWBi9IGivp
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 5, 2022
The Highland Park Police submitted a report to the Illinois State Police in connection to the incident, but Crimo didn’t face any charges, according to the Post Millennial.
Crimo successfully obtained an Illinois FOID (Firearms ID) card months after the police encounters.
Should he have been allowed to buy guns?
Crimo’s father helped him obtain the document just months after the threats. An attorney for Crimo’s father said that he didn’t know about the violent threats, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Illinois State Police have indicated that they had no grounds to deny the permit, even after Crimo’s knives were confiscated.
NEW: Illinois State Police say 3 months after Bobby Crimo’s relatives reported he threatened to ‘kill everyone’ his father sponsored his application to get a gun permit.
ISP: “There was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application.”
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) July 5, 2022
Illinois has stringent red flag laws.
The provision, which allows authorities to seize or deny guns from citizens without a criminal conviction, is designed to take guns from violent individuals.
However, the red flag laws did nothing in this instance, even though the youth had allegedly threatened an act of violence just months before he went through the legal process to obtain firearms.
The state doesn’t ban “assault weapons”, but the city of Highland Park itself does.
Police have indicated Crimo used a “high-powered rifle” in the Highland Park shooting, but haven’t been more specific.
