The suspected gunman who attacked an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, and then drove into Madison was “seriously considering” attacking a celebration in Madison that day, police said.
Robert Crimo III, who police say killed seven people and wounded more than 30 in the Illinois shooting, came to Madison shortly after the shooting before returning to Illinois, where police arrested him, Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office Lake County, said Tuesday. At the time, according to police, Crimo had a .40-caliber folding shotgun and 60 rounds of ammunition in his car.
On Wednesday, Covelli said it was unclear why Crimo drove to the Madison area, but while he was there, “he did see a celebration that was going on in Madison, and he seriously considered using the firearm that was had in his vehicle to carry out another shooting.” The shooter eventually gave up because he “didn’t put enough thought and research into it,” Covelli said.
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“We are deeply disturbed to learn that the suspected Illinois parade shooter plans to carry out another attack here in Madison,” said Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes. “Our hearts go out to the grieving families in Highland Park and to all those forever affected by the events of Monday’s shooting.” We are very aware that tragedy can happen in our community. This reality is upsetting to all of us here in Madison, including members of the Madison Police Department.
Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes speaks during a press conference Wednesday. In a statement, he said his department recognizes that “a tragedy very likely could have occurred in our own community.”
KAYLA WOLF, STATE WRITER
Informed by the FBI that Crimo might be in the Madison area, the department began mobilizing its SWAT team, but backed off after learning that the suspect, whose name Barnes said he would not release, had been arrested in Illinois.
Police in Illinois did not specify which event in Madison Crimo believed to be the assault.
A number of celebrations took place in the Madison area on Monday. In Madison, Tribute to the Troops, a patriotic concert performed by the Capitol City Band, was held at Rennebohm Park, but inclement weather prompted organizers to cancel the Fourth Festival 2022, a celebration at The Edgewater Hotel. Monona’s annual three-day community festival at Winnequah Park continued through Monday. And at Shorewood Hills, the festivities ran from 8:30 a.m. until sunset, including a parade.
Madison’s largest organized Independence Day celebration, the Festival Foods Lights the Isthmus event at Breese Stevens Field, was held Saturday, two days before the shooting.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the incident underscores the need for federal action.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway called on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
KAYLA WOLF, STATE WRITER
“Military weapons have no place in our community,” she said. “This time, the shooter wreaked havoc in Highland Park and headed for Madison. Next time it could be anywhere. On his way here, he passed hundreds of communities celebrating the Fourth of July. We are all at risk when there are weapons of war on our streets.
Rhodes-Conway said Madison is working to “control illegal guns, to hold people accountable for gun violence and to invest in violence disruption and prevention,” but added that the city “cannot do this alone” and called on Congress to enact a “ban on combat weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
Phone left in Middleton
During his trip to the Madison area, Crimo left his cell phone in the 6500 block of University Avenue in Middleton, Covelli said. Police recovered the device and the FBI is investigating it, authorities said.
“I’m glad he was caught, and my condolences to everyone who was affected,” said Shorewood Hills Village President David Benforado, who helped organize celebrations in the village, which borders University Avenue. “People should be free to participate in regular, everyday community events, like Fourth of July activities, without the threat of someone killing them with a combat weapon.”
Shorewood Hills will review its security measures for next year’s Independence Day celebrations, Benforado said. Meanwhile, he echoed Rhodes-Conway and called on Congress to reinstate the federal assault weapons ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004.
At the Monona Community Festival, organizers and police were in “constant contact” throughout the day Monday, said Eric Redding, festival president.
While the festival always works with the city and police department and plans for a number of contingencies, Redding said organizers went “on high alert” after news of the Highland Park shooting broke.
“We live in the neighborhood in the grand scheme of things,” Redding said. “Learning after the fact that he was (in Madison), I’m glad that law enforcement and everybody thought so. … We felt as safe as possible because of that close relationship.”
The incident marked the first serious security threat the festival had ever faced, Redding said. Next year, organizers will look at additional safeguards for the 2023 festival, he said.
“It was definitely a little scary,” he said. “Those one-off situations that you hope never happen, but you want to make sure they’re planned for… I’m thankful we took the time to plan.”
News of the Highland Park shooting reached James Latimer, director of the Capitol City Band, midway through the band’s Tribute to the Troops concert.
“I almost broke down at the concert,” he said.
With the news of Crimo’s trip to Madison, Latimer said he was further concerned.
“Our fabrics have been shaken to the core. As I said at the concert, we have to do something,” he said. “I try to be as careful as possible and tell others the same, but I am prepared for the fact that an incident like this can happen anywhere at any time.”
Overlap protection
Madison police have recognized the threat of mass shootings “for years,” Barnes said. The department is trained for such incidents and has adjusted “major event staffing accordingly.”
“We are very aware that a tragedy may have occurred in our own community,” said Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes, center, flanked by Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Dane County Sheriff Calvin Barrett.
KAYLA WOLF, STATE WRITER
“Mass shootings are all too common in our country,” he said.
But large public events such as parades and community festivals will always present security challenges, experts said.
After the Highland Park shooting, police departments may respond by deploying officers to rooftops, said Gary Raymond, owner of Great Lakes Security Services in Milwaukee, a private security firm.
“They are constantly trying to adapt to new ways of crime,” he said of the police. “Now we have to worry about the people on the roofs.”
Madison has drones and “surveillance” (snipers) available during some events in Madison to monitor rooftops, Barnes said.
Police may also start using cameras more along the parade routes after the cameras helped identify Crimo, Raymond…
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