Following the Fourth of July parade shooting near Chicago, the accused individual, Robert E. Crimo III, traveled to Wisconsin and purportedly considered carrying out another attack, according to police statements.
During a court hearing on Wednesday, July 6, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon alleged in a virtual bond hearing that Crimo confessed to aiming and firing at parade attendees using a Smith & Wesson M&P15 and three 30-round magazines.
Lake County Major Crime Task Force Deputy Chief Chris Covelli revealed that after leaving the shooting site in Illinois, Crimo traveled to Madison, where he contemplated perpetrating another shooting.
Covelli stated, “He seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting,” and added, “We do believe that he was driving around following the first attack and saw the celebration.”
Covelli mentioned that it remains unclear why the suspect did not execute another attack, and authorities believe that he had not thoroughly planned or researched it. They also stated that Crimo had planned the Highland Park attack for several weeks.
Additionally, Covelli mentioned that it is not yet understood why Crimo left Madison to return to Illinois, where he was eventually apprehended after being pulled over in his mother’s car. His phone, left in Madison, has also been recovered.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated that Crimo would be held without bond and that investigators revealed that he had fired one full clip of 30 rounds, reloaded, continued firing, and reloaded a third time during the incident.
On Tuesday, July 5, Crimo was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, and Rinehart anticipated that several more charges including attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm would be filed in late July.
The police reported that at least 45 individuals were injured or killed during the shooting, and identified the deceased victims as Katherine Goldstein, 64; Kevin McCarthy, 37; Irina McCarthy, 35; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69.