The 21-year-old suspect in the Highland Park Fourth of July parade shooting showed no emotion during his virtual court appearance Wednesday.
Investigators say Robert Crimo III took aim and fired 83 rounds at spectators from a rooftop, stopping to reload his rifle. She then rushed towards him in women’s clothing, leaving her gun behind.
“He was shooting indiscriminately into the crowd of people and hitting people randomly,” Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said in an exclusive interview with CBS News.
It is said to be an attack he has been planning for weeks.
“There was quite a bit of pre-planning and he was quite motivated to carry out the attack,” Jogmen said.
“My immediate thought was that this guy could potentially get away with not being held accountable for this,” Jogmen said. “And that concern stayed with me for the first few hours because we had such a poor description. Not a good clue.”
Finding the gun is what “put this investigation on a completely different trajectory,” Jogmen said.
“In this case, we knew the make, model, serial number, and then we went through the tracking process directly to the manufacturer,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Kristen de Tineo told CBS News. All of this information allowed the ATF to identify the suspect.
During the frantic eight-hour manhunt, police say the suspect stopped to see an acquaintance and then drove two and a half hours to Madison, Wisconsin, where he was considering another attack when he noticed a large gathering. There was another gun and about 60 cartridges in the car with him. CBS News obtained a photo of the gun that was in the car.
The gun that was found at the Highland Park parade fired at the suspect’s car when he was arrested after a manhunt. CBS News
Jogman said investigators still don’t have a motive.
“We really don’t have a better understanding today than we did when we first started talking to him specifically why,” he said.
Police said the suspect confessed to the shooting, which killed at least seven people and wounded 38 others. He is being held without bail and is expected to face more charges in the coming weeks.
Illinois State Police say the alleged shooter passed four background checks in 2020 and 2021 while amassing an arsenal of five firearms. The first was purchased after the suspect’s father signed a power of attorney.
Despite two encounters with police in 2019 that included threats of violence against himself or family members and a series of disturbing posts on social media, his parents’ lawyer says they saw no warning signs.
“To them, he was just their son,” attorney Steve Greenberg told CBS News. “He was a bit eccentric. He was into music. He was doing art. But to them he was just their son and there weren’t really any red flags. This is a terrible tragedy for everyone.”
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Chris Van Cleve
Chris Van Cleve is a congressional correspondent for CBS News based in Washington, DC
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