The father of the man suspected of killing seven people and wounding dozens of others in a mass shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day Parade now faces charges for helping his son get a FOID card years before the attack in the northern Chicago suburb.
Robert Crimo Jr. faces seven counts of felony reckless conduct months after the Fourth of July shooting, with prosecutors accusing him of being "criminally reckless at the time that he helped his son procure a FOID card" in 2019.
Questions had been swirling since the attack over whether or not Crimo Jr. would be charged after he sponsored his son's application for a gun license just months after a family member called police to report that the then-19-year-old had a collection of knives and had threatened to "kill everyone."
Illinois State Police reviewed the license application at the time and found no reason to deny it because police said the then-teen had no arrests, no criminal record, no serious mental health problems, no orders of protection and no other behavior that would disqualify him.
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By 2021, Robert Crimo III had purchased at least five weapons. Now, he’s accused of using a semi-automatic rifle to open fire on a crowd of unsuspecting July 4 paradegoers in the Chicago suburb. He faces 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery.
The accused gunman's parents have been under scrutiny as the reeling community questions why they apparently supported their son's interest in guns only months after he reportedly threatened suicide and violence.
"Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenager should have a weapon. They are the first line of defense," Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement. "In this case, that system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew, and he signed the form anyway. This was criminally reckless and a contributing cause to the bodily harm suffered by the victims on July 4th.”
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Crimo Jr. turned himself into authorities Friday and a bond hearing is slated to be held Saturday. His attorney called the charges against the father "baseless and unprecedented."
"On the eve of the statute of limitations for reckless conduct related to the sponsorship of Crimo III’s FOID application, the Lake County State’s County hastily made a decision to charge my client," said Attorney George Gomez. "This decision should alarm every single parent in the United States of America who, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney, knows exactly what is going on with their 19-year-old adult children and can be held criminally liable for actions taken nearly three years later. These charges are absurd and we will fight them every step of the way."
He added that Crimo Jr. "continues to sympathize and feel terrible for the individuals and families who were injured and lost loved ones this past July 4th," but believes the charges are "politically motivated and a distraction from the real change that needs to happen in this country."
In previous media interviews, Crimo Jr. said he did not expect to face charges and does not believe he did anything wrong by helping his son get a gun license through the state's established process.
Crimo Jr. has shown up at several pretrial hearings for his son this year, nodding in greeting when his son entered the courtroom shackled and flanked by guards. The father is a longtime resident of Highland Park and a familiar face around the city, where he was once a mayoral candidate and was well known for operating convenience stores.
Reckless conduct charges are felony charges which carry a sentence of up to three years in prison, though they are typically served concurrently with each other.
Legal experts, however, said it's incredibly difficult to prove criminal charges against a shooter's parent or guardian.
"They have to show the parents aided and abetted crime in some way for there to be an accountability based charge," Paul Cain, a professor of law at Northern Illinois University, said. "That’s the getaway car driver who didn't actually go in and rob the store at gunpoint ... but performed some action to allow that robbery to go forward."
More often, such parents will face civil lawsuits where legal standards of proof are less stringent.
In one notable exception, a Michigan prosecutor last year filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of a teen accused of fatally shooting four students at his high school. A January trial date in that case has been delayed while the state appeals court considers an appeal by the parents.
Meanwhile families impacted by the shooting did file suit in November against several groups, including Crimo III's father, alleging negligence.
