Cameras may have caught the 21-year-old man accused of opening fire at a July 4 parade in Chicago while escaping in disguise.
Robert E Crimo III was arrested Monday, hours after the deadly attack that… seven dead and more than 35 injured in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.
He has been since charged with seven murders.
The suspected gunman allegedly used a rifle “similar to an AR-15” in the attack dressed in women’s clothing trying to blend in with the crowd as he escaped.
Now it appears that Crimo walked away from the crime scene in disguise on CCTV camera footage in the area.
The images show a person matching Crimo’s description, wearing a blue sweater, gloves, a scarf in the colors of the American flag and a black backpack.
They also have headphones connected to an iPhone.
Deputy Chief Chris Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said no motive had been established for the attack, leaving panicked parade-goers fleeing for their lives.
“We believe Crimo planned this attack weeks in advance and acted alone,” he said.
“We have no information at this time to indicate that it was racially motivated, motivated by religion or any other protected status.”
Mr Covelli said Crimo used a fire escape to access the roof of a building overlooking the parade route and fired more than 70 shots from a rifle “similar to an AR-15”, one of several weapons he legally owned. had bought.
“Crimo was dressed in women’s clothing and investigators believe he did this to hide his facial tattoos, his identity and help him escape with the other people fleeing the chaos,” Mr Covelli added.
He said that after the shooting, Crimo went to his mother’s house nearby and borrowed her car.
About eight hours later, he was arrested after a short chase.
In the wake of Sunday’s shooting, it was revealed that Crimo slipped past an Illinois “red flag” law designed to prevent people with violent tendencies from getting guns.
The revelations raise questions about the adequacy of the laws.
Mr Covelli said Crimo had legally purchased a total of five weapons, including the suspected murder weapon, despite coming to the attention of law enforcement twice for conduct that indicated he could harm himself or others.
Police were called to Crimo’s home twice in 2019, once to investigate a suicide attempt and the second because a family member said he had threatened to “kill everyone in the family,” Mr Covelli said.
Police have removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from the residence, but have made no arrests.
“There were no complaints signed by any of the victims,” explained Mr Covelli.
In a separate statement, the Illinois state police said it had received a report from the Highland Park Police Department declaring Crimo a “clear and present danger” following the alleged threats against his family in September 2019.
At the time, Crimo did not have a state “firearms owner identification (FOID)” card that could be revoked or a pending FOID filing to deny state police involvement in the case, the agency said.
State police also said no family member or anyone else was willing to “provide information about threats or mental health that would have enabled law enforcement to take additional action.”
Three months later, at age 19, Crimo applied for his first FOID card, sponsored by his father.
Crimo has passed four background checks on the purchase of its weapons, all conducted in 2020 and 2021, well after the 2019 incidents that, according to state police, caught the attention of police.
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