Highland Park suspect talked about Denmark mass shooting hours before own attack, father reveals

Father Robert Crimo Jr wants ‘long sentence’ for son and says he had ‘zero’ involvement in shooting

Highland Park shooting accused Robert Crimo III spoke about Sunday’s Copenhagen mall shooting hours before the massacre at the Illinois suburb during an Independence Day parade, said his father.

The shooter who killed three and injured four people in Denmark’s capital was “an idiot”, he had allegedly told his father Robert Crimo Jr.

“He goes, ‘Yeah, that is an idiot.’ That’s what he said!” Mr Crimo told the New York Post, recalling the conversation with his son. “People like that [commit mass shootings] to amp up the people that want to ban all guns.”

“I talked to him 13 hours before [Monday’s mass shooting]. That’s why I guess I’m in such shock... Like, did he have a psychiatric break or something?”

Charged with killing seven people on 4 July, Mr Crimo confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in the suburban Chicago area and then fled to Wisconsin’s Madison city, where he contemplated shooting up an event, authorities said on Wednesday.

The suspect turned back to Illinois, where he was later arrested, after deciding he was not prepared to pull off another attack in Wisconsin, Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference on Wednesday following a hearing where the 21-year-old man was denied bond.

Residents visit a memorial to the seven people who lost their lives in Highland Park (AP)

Mr Covelli said it did not appear that the suspect had planned another attack in Wisconsin, but fled there, saw another Independence Day celebration and “seriously contemplated” firing on it. The assailant had ditched the semi-automatic rifle he used in Illinois, but he had another, similar rifle and about 60 more rounds with him, according to Covelli.

He initially evaded capture by disguising himself as a woman and blending into the fleeing crowd, according to police.

Authorities and the suspect’s parents are also under fire after it emerged that he was able to legally purchase a trove of firearms and secure a state firearm permit in January 2020 just four months after police informed that he had threatened to “kill everyone” at his home.

His father had also sponsored the application even as he was labelled a “clear and present danger” by authorities for threatening to kill relatives in September 2019.

Officers responding to the scene at the time confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword.

The incident was just a “childish outburst”,  his father told The Post and the knives were “just a collection”. “You know I used to collect coins and baseball cards.”

Over the next two years, he then passed four federal background checks, enabling him to legally purchase five firearms including two high-powered rifles, two handguns and a shotgun.

On Monday, he allegedly used one of those firearms – a high-powered Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle – to carry out the horrific mass shooting.

“He bought everything on his own and they’re registered to him,” the father said as he insisted that he had “zero” involvement in the mass shooting.

“They make me like I groomed him to do all this,” Mr Crimo said of critics. “I’ve been here my whole life, and I’m gonna stay here, hold my head up high, because I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Though the father said he would be attending the court hearing and was supportive of his son, he added that he wanted a “long sentence” for his son.

“That’s life. You know you have consequences for actions. He made a choice. He didn’t have to do that. I think there’s mental illness there, obviously... I didn’t see a lot of it.”