Illinois State Police: No grounds to deny parade shooting suspect’s gun license application

The Illinois State Police released a statement Tuesday saying that there were no grounds to deny the shooting suspect in the Highland Park, Ill., Fourth of July parade mass shooting, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, a gun license.

When Crimo applied for a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card in Dec. 2019, the Illinois State Police wrote, “there was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application.”

However, the statement noted that in September 2019 a Clear and Present Danger report was made by the Highland Park Police Department in response to threats which Crimo allegedly made against his family. No arrests were made in that incident and no Firearms Restraining Order or order of protection was filed, the police said.

In a Wednesday statement, they added that the report stated that Crimo replied “no,” when asked by police at that time if he felt as though he may harm himself or others.

Crimo’s father also claimed the knives in the house were his and they were being stored in his own closet in a safe manner, per the statement. Due to that information being given, later that day the Highland Park Police returned the knives to Crimo’s father.

The Illinois State Police wrote, “The individual passed four background checks when purchasing firearms, through the Firearms Transaction Inquiry Program (FTIP), which includes the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).”

The police then listed the four dates on which Crimo passed each background check, ranging from June 2020 to September 2021.

They noted that the only criminal offense Crimo had in his background was an ordinance violation for possession of tobacco in 2016.

Crimo also did not have any mental health prohibitor reports filed by health care facilities or personnel in his background, the statement said.

This comes after police reported Tuesday that the suspect in the Highland Park, Ill., shooting planned the attack for “several weeks.”

Crimo brought a “high-powered rifle” similar to an AR-15 and accessed the roof of a local business through a fire escape ladder before he allegedly opened fire on the crowd, firing over 70 bullets, according to Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force.

Covelli said police found a second rifle when they stopped Crimo, and other firearms were recovered in the suspect’s home. Covelli also noted that Crimo’s guns were all legally purchased. 

Seven people were killed and dozens of others were injured in the shooting. Crimo has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder.

— Updated at 1:35 p.m.