Robert Crimo Jr., the father of the accused Fourth of July parade shooter who killed seven in Chicago’s Highland Park suburb, is now facing criminal charges of his own related to the massacre.
Crimo Jr. was charged Friday with seven counts of reckless conduct—one count for each of the seven people his son is accused of murdering, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing prosecutors in Lake County.
The state attorney’s office didn’t immediately release details surrounding the arrest, but said a press conference would be held later Friday.
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The charges seemingly took Crimo by surprise.
“I had no—not an inkling, warning—that this was going to happen,” he told WGN9. “I am just shocked.”
Robert Crimo III, 21, is accused of killing seven parade goers.
Lake County Sheriff’s OfficeCrimo’s son, Robert Crimo III, is facing 21 counts of first-degree murder—three counts for each of the innocent parade goers he’s accused of mowing down with a rifle.
Illinois State Police previously said Crimo Jr. is the reason his son got his hands on a rifle in the first place. He signed a form that enabled his son to obtain a firearm owner’s identification card, also known as FOID, that permitted him to buy two rifles in 2019 despite his family reporting some concerning incidents to police, including a suicide attempt and Crimo III threatening to kill “everybody.”
“Robert Crimo Jr., the father, took a reckless and unjustified risk to sign his son’s application for a firearm owner identification card,” said Lake County State Attorney Eric Rinehart, the Sun-Times reported.
“He knew what he knew and he signed the form anyway,” Rinehart said at a press conference Friday, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Crimo Jr. will be held in custody overnight Friday, Rinehart said. A judge will see him Saturday and will set a bail amount.
Crimo III is accused of firing dozens of shots from a rooftop perch during a Fourth of July parade in the swanky Chicago suburb that Michael Jordan once called home. The gunfire sent hundreds fleeing in terror.
Rinehart previously called the massacre “premeditated and calculated.”
Records have shown the Crimo household was unstable during his childhood. The Tribune reported that cops were called to the home nine times between 2010 and 2014 for reports of domestic altercations between his parents, but no charges were ever filed.
A mom of one of Crimo III’s childhood friends told The Daily Beast this summer that he was on a “downward spiral” for years but his cries for help went unheeded.
“He was very, very much a loner and depressed,” said the mom, who asked to remain anonymous. “And I think his emotional instability was kind of brushed under the rug by his family.”
The mother said Crimo III threatened to kill himself and attempted suicide a few times—as early as 2016.
“I think there’s a lot of balls dropped, no matter which way you look at it,” she said. “Parents, the government itself. I mean, if what they are saying is true on the report that happened back in 2019, why would his father sponsor him to legally purchase these guns?”
Social media posts reviewed by The Daily Beast suggested Crimo was obsessed with violent imagery, mass shootings, and high-profile murderers. One former high school classmate said, “There were lots of red flags with him.”
