Father Of IL Mass Shooter Charged With Letting Him Buy Gun

The father of Robert Crimo III, the man accused of the Highland Park July 4 parade mass shooting, was charged with seven counts of reckless conduct for his role in allowing his son to obtain firearms. In 2019, when his son was underage, Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son’s application for a state firearm owner’s identification card. In early 2020, the son was able to obtain an ID card despite previously having threatened to kill himself and his family, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. “Robert Crimo Jr., the father, took a reckless and unjustified risk to sign his son’s application for a firearm owner’s identification card,” said Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart. The father the father faces seven counts for the seven people who were killed.

"People bear responsibility when they recklessly endanger others,” Rinehart said. Crimo Jr. surrendered Friday. The son is charged with fatally shooting seven people and wounding dozens of others who had lined the streets in downtown Highland Park for the parade. George Gomez, a lawyer representing Crimo Jr., called the charges “baseless and unprecedented” and said: “This decision should alarm every single parent ... 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. The younger Crimo needed the ID card to purchase the Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi-automatic rifle that police and prosecutors have said he used on the Fourth of July. “Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenager should have a weapon,” Rinehart said. “They are the first line of defense.”