Father of Highland Park shooting suspect released on $50,000 bond after being charged over July 4 attack

Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son’s under-21 FOID card application just three months after the then-19-year-old had allegedly threatened to kill his family

The father of the Highland Park shooting suspect has been released on $50,000 bond after being slapped with seven felony reckless conduct charges in connection to the July 4 massacre.

Robert Crimo Jr. appeared for a virtual bond hearing in Lake County court on Saturday morning where he was ordered to surrender any weapons, his Illinois Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card and his conceal and carry licence (CCL) to the court.

Under an agreement between Illinois prosecutors and his legal team, his bond was lowered from $500,000 to $50,000 on the condition that he complies with a curfew and does not consume any drugs or alcohol on his release.

On Friday, prosecutors made the bombshell move to charge Mr Crimo Jr for his alleged part in the horrific Independence Daymass shooting that left seven victims dead and dozens more injured.

On July 4, his 21-year-old son Robert Crimo III is accused of scaling a building overlooking Highland Park’s annual holiday parade where he took up a sniper stance with his high-powered assault rifle.

From there, he opened fire on families, friends and local residents who had gathered below to enjoy the parade.

Seven victims were killed in the attack, with dozens more injured, while the gunman fled the scene.

Mr Crimo III was arrested hours later and charged with 117 counts including 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery.

In the aftermath of the massacre, questions quickly rose around whether the accused mass shooter’s parents might also face charges in connection to the attack.

In 2019, Mr Crimo Jr. had sponsored his son’s under-21 FOID card – enabling him to legally buy and own firearms in the state of Illinois – despite the 19-year-old making an alleged threat to kill his family members just three months earlier.

Even after his son allegedly murdered seven innocent parade-goers, the father insisted that he had no regrets about helping him gain access to firearms.

Now, five months on from the mass shooting, Mr Crimo Jr. has been hit with seven counts of reckless conduct – one for each of the seven victims murdered that day.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Reinhart announced the charges on Friday saying that Mr Crimo Jr.’s actions contributed to the mass murder of the victims.

Robert Crimo Jr. in a mugshot by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office (AP)

He said that his actions amount to criminal recklessness because of what he knew about his son’s behaviour before he sponsored the FOID card.

“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenager should have a weapon. They are the first line of defense,” he said.

“In this case, that system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew, and he signed the form anyway.

“This was criminally reckless and a contributing cause to the bodily harm suffered by the victims on July 4th.”

An attorney for Mr Crimo Jr. slammed the decision to charge his client as “baseless and unprecedented”, claiming it is "politically motivated and a distraction from the real change that needs to happen in this country”.

“On the eve of the statute of limitations for reckless conduct related to the sponsorship of Crimo III’s FOID application, the Lake County State’s County hastily made a decision to charge my client,” said George Gomez.

“This decision should alarm every single parent in the United States of America who, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney, knows exactly what is going on with their 19-year-old adult children and can be held criminally liable for actions taken nearly three years later.

“These charges are absurd and we will fight them every step of the way.”

Mr Crimo Jr., who made a failed bid to become mayor of Highland Park back in 2019, faces up to three years in prison on each count. He is next scheduled to appear in court on 12 January.

A visitor prays at a memorial to the seven people killed and others injured in the Fourth of July shooting (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Back in 2019, Highland Park Police were called to two concerning incidents involving Mr Crimo III at the Crimo family home, including one where the then-teenager allegedly threatened to kill his family members.

The first incident took place in April 2019, when police were called to the home because the then 18-year-old had allegedly tried to kill himself with a machete.

Five months later in September 2019, officers then responded to a wellbeing check after the teenager “stated that he was going to kill everyone” in the home.

A family member who was a minor at the time told investigators that they were “afraid to go home due to the nature of this threat” and because there was “a collection of knives in [Mr Crimo III’s] bedroom”.

Mr Crimo III admitted to officers that he was “depressed” and had a history of drug use, according to a police report released by Illinois State Police.

Police confiscated a trove of knives from his bedroom at the time, including a 24-inch Samurai type sword, a 12-inch dagger and a tin lunch box with 16 hand knives.

But, according to the police report, the suspect’s mother Denise Pesina and her son were not forthcoming about what the threats were.

Mr Crimo III’s father also spoke to officers about the incident and claimed the knives were his. He said he’d been storing them in his son’s room for “safekeeping”.

Just four hours later, Mr Crimo III’s father collected the trove of weapons from police, according to the police report.

Despite the warning signs about his son’s disturbing behaviour, Mr Crimo Jr. sponsored his son’s application for an FOID card that December – just three months after the teenager had threatened to kill his family and eight months after his suicide attempt.

As Mr Crimo III was 19 at the time, he needed a parent or guardian to sponsor the application. Thanks to his father’s backing, the FOID application was submitted and approved by the ISP in January 2020.

Robert Crimo III appears in court in the aftermath of the massacre (AP)

Over the next two year,s Mr Crimo III then legally bought five firearms – including the high-powered Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle he allegedly used in the July 4 attack.

Following the mass shooting, Mr Crimo Jr. denied any responsibility for his son’s actions and insisted he felt no guilt about sponsoring his FOID application.

“Guilty. No, he did it all on his own,” he told ABC News in July.

“You know, he went through the legal process. I don’t know if it’s guilt. I feel horrible as to what happened. Beyond horrible.”

While it’s extremely rare for the parents of mass shooters to be charged in connection to their children’s crimes, it is not unheard of.

Last year, a Michigan prosecutor set precedent by charging the parents of Oxford High School shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter.

On 30 November 2021, Mr Crumbley, then 15, opened fire inside the high school allegedly murdering four of his fellow students.

Days after he was arrested at the scene, his parents James and Jennifer Crumbley went on the run before they were also arrested and charged.

Prosecutors said that the Crumbley parents bought their underage son the firearm used in the massacre as an early Christmas present and left it accessible to him in their home.

They also ignored multiple warning signs about their son’s behaviour and refused to take him out of the school hours before the shooting after staff members told them he needed urgent mental healthcare, said prosecutors.

Announcing the charges, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said: “While the shooter was the one who entered the high school and pulled the trigger, there are other individuals who contributed to the events on November 30 and it’s my intention to hold them accountable as well.”