Illinois State Police say there will be a criminal investigation into the culpability of the father of the accused Highland Park shooter after he signed off on an affidavit allowing his son to obtain a gun permit, reports ABC 7.
Robert Crimo Jr., who is accused of killing seven people at Highland Park's Fourth of July parade, applied for a firearm owners identification (FOID) card in December, 2019. The document is required to possess a gun in Illinois.
His father, Robert Crimo, signed the form giving his son the adult consent he needed to apply for the card. Crimo Jr. was 19 at the time.
The state police approved the request in January, 2020. The next month, Crimo Jr. purchased the Smith & Wesson M&P15 semiautomatic rifle authorities say he used in the mass shooting.
The assault happened less than three years after police went to the suspect's home following a call from a family member who said he was threatening "to kill everyone" there. Covelli said police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a sword, but said there was no sign he had any guns at the time, in September, 2019.
Police in April, 2019, also responded to a reported suicide attempt by the suspect, Covelli said.
The suspect's father told ABC News he isn't concerned about the probe.
Crimo Jr. used his FOID card to buy firearms five times in 2020 and 2021, authorities said.
"I filled out the consent form to allow my son to go through the process that the Illinois State Police have in place for an individual to obtain a FOID card. They do background checks. Whatever that entails, I'm not exactly sure. And either you're approved or denied, and he was approved," he said.
Steve Greenberg, the lawyer representing the suspect's parents, on Wednesday said the father's consent to his son getting a FOID card was "no different than signing up your kid for driver's ed," reports The Chicago Sun Times.
"No one thought there was any issue, including the police," Greenberg said. "I think everybody across the board missed whatever warning signs were there — the police, the teachers, the friends, the family, everybody."
Greenberg said Robert Crimo Jr.'s parents "never helped him to buy a single weapon. They just consented to him getting a card."
Robert Sr. told ABC News he doesn't know the motives behind the attack.
"Whatever was going on in his head at the time, to go kill and hurt innocent people is just senseless," he said, adding that his "heart goes out to all of the families that were affected."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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