The father of the man charged in the mass shooting at a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinios was also indicted on Wednesday.
A grand jury charged 58-year-old Robert Crimo Jr. with seven counts of reckless conduct. Prosecutors say he helped his 19-year-old son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license even though the teenager had threatened violence before fatally shooting seven people at the July 4th parade in suburban Chicago.
The elder Crimo was arrested in December on seven felony counts of reckless conduct—one count for each person killed on July 4th. Each count carries a maximum three-year prison sentence. The elder Crimo was released on $50,000 bond following his arrest.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement Wednesday the grand jury agreed the case against the father should move forward.
“Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons,” Rinehart said.
The elder Crimo’s attorney told reporters Wednesday that he could not comment on the indictment because he hadn’t yet seen it. He has previously called the accusations against his client “baseless and unprecedented.”
Rinehart has previously said the accusations against the father are based on his sponsorship of his son’s application for a gun license in December 2019. Authorities say Robert Crimo III attempted suicide by machete in April 2019 and in September 2019 was accused by a family member of making threats to “kill everyone.”
Authorities say Illinois State Police reviewed the son’s gun license application and found no reason to deny it because he had no arrests, no criminal record, no serious mental health problems, no orders of protection and no other behavior that would disqualify him.
A grand jury indicted the younger Crimo in July on 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery. The charges represent the seven people killed as well as dozens of others who were wounded in the July 4th shooting.
The elder Crimo ran for Mayor of Highland Park in 2019 but lost to a pro-gun control Democrat.
In January, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed a law banning the sale of many kinds of semiautomatic weapons inside the state, including a ban on semiautomatic rifles and pistols with detachable magazines. The law had been crafted in response to the July 4th massacre.
