The Highland Park Police Department has seized “16 knives, daggers and a sword” from the suspect accused of shooting the July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, three years before his rampage.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Sergeant Christopher Coveley of the Lake County Major Crime Prevention Team He said that Highland Park law enforcement officials had two previous contacts with the suspected shooter.
THE BREAK: In 2019, police confiscated several knives and a sword from a Highland Park Parade shooter after he told a loved one he was going to kill everyone but no further action was taken, police said. pic.twitter.com/bENNA4Q9d2
– Breaking911 (@Breaking911) 5 July 2022
The Highland Park Police Department was called to the suspect’s home in April 2019 after learning that he had attempted suicide. Coveli noted that the report was delayed, so law enforcement responded to the suicide attempt “a week later.”
Because mental health professionals were dealing with the matter at the time, Coveli added, “there was no law enforcement action.”
Highland Park Police officers also visited the suspect’s home again in September 2019 after the suspect threatened to “kill everyone” at his home.
“The second occurred in September of 2019. A family member reported that Cremo said he was going to kill everyone and that Cremo had a set of knives,” He said. The police responded to his house. The police removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from Cremo’s house.”
Coveli said that law enforcement authorities did not arrest the suspect because the victims did not sign any complaints and because “at the time there was no probable cause for arrest.”
The Highland Park Police Department did not notify Illinois State Police of the second visit to the suspect’s home, according to Covelli.
One of the suspect’s former Highland Park High School Classmates said NBC has reported that the suspect’s past is littered with “a lot of red flags.”
Another colleague claimed that “everyone knew” that the suspect “was far away”, but added that he had “never indicated that he was capable of committing this degree of violence.”
With multiple law enforcement visits to his home and ex-colleague accounts of the suspect, many skaters on social media wondered how the suspect was able to purchase the firearms he used to carry out the shooting in light of Illinois firearm ownership requirements.
“These are the eligibility requirements for the Illinois Firearms Ownership Identification Card (FOID), which is issued by the Illinois State Police,” Madison Mueller of Bloomberg. chirp. Officials said Cremo bought his firearms after two mental health incidents with HP Police (no charges have been brought).
These are the eligibility requirements for an Illinois Firearms Ownership Identification Card (FOID), which is issued by the Illinois State Police. Officials said Crimo purchased his firearms after two mental health incidents with HP Police (no charges were brought). pic.twitter.com/P1ab3W2xGj
– Madison Mueller (@g0ingmad) 5 July 2022
Some of the eligibility requirements are as follows: “I have not been a patient in a mental institution or any part of a medical facility for the treatment of mental illness within the past five years,” and “I have not been judged by a court as mentally defective or by order of a court, board, or authorized entity.” him with inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment.”
As Coveli explained during Tuesday’s press conference, the suspect’s interaction in September 2019 with law enforcement did not rise to the level that was necessary for his involuntary hospitalization.
Covilly He said:
So the question is the response to the September incident. The police responded. The police cannot make an arrest unless there is a probable cause for the arrest or if someone is willing to sign complaints about their arrest. In the absence of these things, the police do not have the authority to arrest a person. Now, if there was a problem where there was a necessity to involuntarily hospitalize someone, that’s an option, but that wasn’t an option. At the time, it did not fall into that category. However, Highland Park Police did not notify the Illinois State Police.
When asked if red flag laws would prevent a suspect from being able to purchase the firearms used in the attack, Coveli encouraged individuals to “notify a social network” about questionable content someone posted and then “notify local law enforcement.”
Covilly added that at the time law enforcement authorities seized the knives from the suspect’s home, “there was no information that he was in possession of any firearms.”
So at the time, there was no information that he was in possession of any firearms or rifles. Would that be enough if he was making threats? It depends on each case. I don’t want to talk extensively about this issue,” Kovelli He said. “It depends on the circumstances. There are circumstances where law enforcement has that authority to get a forfeiture order. But it depends on the situation every time.”
