Robert Crimo III, the Highland Park, Il., massacre suspect was too young to get a gun permit in 2019 from the state of Illinois, but his father sponsored him for one anyway, even after the son had threatened to kill himself and his family, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. In early 2020, the younger Crimo got a state firearm owner’s identification card. He needed that to buy the “high-powered” AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle that police said he used to kill seven people and wound dozens of others who lined Highland Park streets for its Fourth of July parade Monday. Crimo, 21, was charged Tuesday with seven counts of murder.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did an “urgent” investigation into the ownership of the recovered gun Monday and determined that Crimo had bought the rifle legally. Crimo had another rifle in his car and had pistols in a home where he lived in nearby Highwood. The Illinois State Police said it received a “clear and present danger” report in September 2019 that Crimo threatened his family. Police visited Crimo’s home twice in 2019 after he threatened to kill himself and his family. Police said they recovered knives from the home but no guns. Crimo wasn’t arrested. N one, including his family, pressed a complaint or provided information about those threats or any mental health problems that could have allowed law enforcement to “take further action,” according to the state police. Crimo passed four separate background checks to buy guns on June 9, 2020, July 18, 2020, July 31, 2020 and Sept. 20, 2021, the state police said.