After hours of armed presence started shooting At a suburban procession on July 4th in Highland Park, Illinois, killing seven people and injuring twenty, police arrested 21-year-old Robert Cremo III. Can Cremo, better known as Bobby charged Tuesday Seven counts of first-degree murder.
Investigators say the gunman shot the parade-goers from a rooftop at around 10:15 a.m. during the community’s Independence Day celebration. Police said a high-powered rifle “similar to an AR-15” was found at the scene. The suspect was initially described as a white young man with long black hair.
Investigators believe the suspect disguised himself in women’s clothing during the shooting “in an attempt to disguise himself,” Chris Coveley, deputy chief of the Lake County Major Crime Squad, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Covelli said investigators were able to identify Cremo through a combination of video clips and a quick-tracking of the gun found by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that linked it to the suspect.
After the shooting, he is believed to have merged into the crowd and gone to his mother’s house, eventually driving a Honda Fit.
It was Taken to booking Monday evening after someone spotted a Honda in a nearby suburb, he called 911, and was stopped by police. Coveli said another gun was found in the car, along with other firearms in his home. Covelli said the guns were legally purchased by Cremo in the Chicago area.
Highland Park Police
On Monday afternoon, police and the FBI surrounded the family’s home in Heywood, north of Highland Park. Neighbors told CBS Chicago that Cremo lived there with his father and uncle. His uncle said that Krimo stayed in an apartment in the back.
His father, a deli owner, ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Highland Park in 2019.
Uncle Cremo Paul He told CBS Chicago He was “sad” about the attack.
“I can’t even believe it now. (I) pray for all the families and for everyone who has been injured and injured,” he said.
He also said he had not noticed any signs that his nephew might be committing acts of violence.
“There was no indication at all,” he said He told CBS Chicago. “There was no indication that I had ever seen it that would lead to that.”
But police later detailed two earlier incidents of concerns.
“There have been some contacts with law enforcement authorities,” Coveli said on Monday. “Nothing of a violent nature.”
Coveli detailed those contacts in a briefing on Tuesday afternoon. He said in April 2019, someone called Highland Park Police after learning that Cremo had attempted suicide. The police responded to his home but the situation was already being handled by mental health professionals and was not considered the prerogative of the police at the time.
In September 2019, a family member reported that the suspect said he would “kill everyone”. Police responded to his residence and removed 16 knives, daggers and a sword from the house, but, Coveli said, there was no probable cause for his arrest. The Illinois State Police was notified of the incident at the time.
Months after those incidents, he was allowed to obtain the identification of the owner of the state firearms. His father signed a consent form allowing him to purchase at least one handgun.
Illinois has a file red flag law Weapons are allowed to be withdrawn from a person in distress, but the suspect did not possess weapons at the time, and CBS News correspondent Chris Van Cleef reports that the system has no way of tracking complaints about people who aren’t actually there. This system.
Crimo also went by the stage name Awake the Rapper and posted online content that included violent images. On a now-deleted YouTube page, some of his videos featured his hometown, while others featured animated scenes of gun violence. In one video depicting gun violence, he can be heard saying, “I need to leave now. I just want to do it. It’s my destiny.”
Coveli said investigators are “reviewing” these videos, but said it was unclear why the shooting occurred.
“At this point, we haven’t developed a motive from it,” Coveli said.
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rottering said in an interview Tuesday on CBS Mornings that she knew Cremo when she was a child.
“I was the leader of the Cub Scouts,” Rottering said. “He was a little kid at the time. My heart goes out to everyone in this town.” “I am not sure what happened to him to force him to commit this kind of evil in his hometown, but we have a city in deep mourning today and it will take a long time to recover from all of this.”
