Robert Crimo’s dad helped him buy guns EVEN AFTER he threatened to ‘kill everyone' in family
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: More shocking details have come out about the Highland Park shooter and his family. Robert 'Bobby' Crimo III killed seven people and injured several others at a July 4 parade after opening fire from a rooftop. He has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder by the Illinois State’s Attorney’s office. Additional charges are expected to follow related to the victims who got wounded because of the massacre. His parents — Bob Crimo and his wife, Denise — have now issued a statement sharing their grief with the victims’ families.
The statement read: “We are all mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and this is a terrible tragedy for many families, the victims, the paradegoers, the community, and our own. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to everybody.” But strangely on Tuesday, July 5, it was reportedly found that it was the 21-year-old mass shooter’s father who helped him get the guns even after he threatened to ‘kill everyone’ in his family.
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A Daily Mail report said that Bob paid for Robert’s application for a gun permit in 2020 despite the murder-suicide threats and knowing that in September 2019, Illinois State Police had removed 16 knives, a sword and a dagger from his possession. Before the family’s statement was out, their lawyer Steve Greenberg defended them. In an interview to News Nation Now, he said, “They’re just as shocked by this turn of events as everyone else is. I don’t think anyone’s ever aware of any red flags that make them think that their son is gonna go out in their own community and start shooting people. Had they seen any signs of it, I think they would have acted. They’re responsible parents.”
But that apparently is not true because police, after initially saying that they did not know Robert, went on to claim that they had questioned him twice earlier. In April 2019, he was interviewed by cops after he apparently threatened to take his own life. Then in September of the same year, he had a face-to-face interaction with law enforcement after he threatened to “kill everyone” in his family.
Chris Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff's Office revealed that three years back, “an individual contacted Highland Park department a week after learning of him attempting to suicide. It was a delayed report. They responded to the residence, spoke to him, his parents and the matter was being handled with the mental health profession. There was no law enforcement action to be taken.”
Covelli added, “In September 2019, a family remember reported that he said he was going to ‘kill everyone’ and that he had a collection of knives. They responded and took 16 knives and a dagger from his home. There was no probable cause to arrest and no complaints assigned by the victims. They did notify the Illinois State Police.”
But instead of taking extra care, Robert’s father helped him “buy two assault rifles in Illinois, along with three other types of gun,” by giving him money for application for a Firearm Owners Identification card in Illinois, the Daily Mail report stated. The family’s attorney, however, does not hold Bob and Denise responsible. Greenberg asserted: “I think the bigger issue here is why is a kid able to get a FOID card and then purchase a military assault weapon? I think that’s a bigger question that we should be asking ourselves. Not whether the family should have sponsored him to get a FOID card when there were no red flags and it was perfectly lawful.”