Robert ‘Bobby’ E. Crimo III local man id as Highland Park parade gunman who shot dead 6 and wounded 25 as the suspect shooter momentarily arrested after fleeing scene. No known motive.
Update: Bobby Crimo has been arrested and taken into custody. More news following.
Chicago authorities have arrested a person of interest in Monday’s mass shooting during a 4th of July parade in Highland Parks that left 6 dead, 25 injured.
Officials identified 22-year-old local man, Robert ‘Bobby’ E. Crimo III as the wanted suspect who was thought to be driving a 2010 silver Honda Fit with with Illinois plates reading dm80653 after fleeing the scene.
Bobby Crimo is alleged to have opened gunfire with a ‘high-powered rifle’ while standing on a roof just on 20 minutes after the parade began in the affluent suburb of Highland Park.
WGN reporter Ben Bradley reported, ‘Suspected parade shooter Robert Crimo is in custody. There was a brief pursuit after he was spotted by a North Chicago police officer. Suspect was arrested ‘without incident’ after a short pursuit that ended on Route 41 in Lake Forest.’
The killer ‘was very military-style, methodical in the way he was crouched and shooting,’ an attendee told WGN TV.Investigators found a semi automatic rifle at the scene that is believed to have been used in the massacre. A follow up report told of Crimo wearing an army-style yellow backpack.
Robert Crimo aka Awake the Rapper id as Trump supporter
BREAKING 🇺🇲 : Watch ‼️A new video footage shows the moment, when mass shooting unfolds in #HighlandPark during a 4th of July parade celebration.#Chicago #Illinois #USA pic.twitter.com/Jwx6TGqkca
— Zaid Ahmd (@realzaidzayn) July 4, 2022
20-30 gunshots
Chaotic footage showed frantic parade-goers — some of them bloodied — running for their lives as gunfire suddenly erupted.
Witness, Miles Zaremski described hearing what he believed to be about 20 to 30 gunshots, in two consecutive spurts of gunfire, at about 10:20 a.m. CT, 20 minutes after the start of the parade.
‘I saw multiple lifeless bodies, people in a pool of blood,’ Zaremski told CNN.
‘STAY OUT OF THE AREA – allow law enforcement and first responders to do their work,’ the Lake County Sheriff’s office tweeted as the carnage unfolded.
Images from the scene showed baby strollers and blankets that had been abandoned amid the mayhem.
Police said cops ran toward the gunfire but that the shooter had ceased firing before they arrived.
Of the 25 who arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds, 19 were treated and discharged home. The wounded ranged from about 8 years old to 85 in age. While authorities declined to identify the fatalities, Nicholas Toledo, a grandfather, was among those killed. His family confirmed his death to CBS.
WATCH: @FBIGov currently in Highwood, IL, where Robert “Bobby” Crimo III lives with his family about a mile and a half from the Highland Park shooting scene. pic.twitter.com/9MHNftfaRh
— BNN Newsroom (@BNNBreaking) July 4, 2022
No known motive
Lake County Major Crimes Task Force spokesman Chris Covelli said Crimo should be considered armed and dangerous.
‘Communities should not approach him. If they see him, know his whereabouts, see the vehicle, dial 911. We are considering him very dangerous,’ Covelli said.
Covelli said, so far, there was no reason to believe there was more than one shooter.
Authorities declined to offer a motive as to Monday’s 4th of July shooting as police frantically sought to locate the gunman.
Highland Park is renowned for being one of Chicago’s most affluent suburbs. It is among a cluster of wealthy suburbs along the North Shore next to Lake Michigan.
Unlike Chicago, which has one of the worst gun violence records in the country, violent crime in Highland Park is almost unheard of.
Highland Park is a roughly 30-minute drive north from Chicago.
