Robert E. Crimo III pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 117 criminal charges filed against him after he allegedly fired from a rooftop during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, killed seven people, and wounded 48 others.
The suspect was indicted on the charges two weeks ago. They included three counts for each person who died, and counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery for each person wounded that day.
He faces natural life in prison if convicted of two or more of the murder charges.
During an initial court hearing two days after the shooting, prosecutors said the alleged shooter had confessed that he fired more than 80 rounds from a rooftop into a crowd of spectators lining the downtown parade route.
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On the day of the attack, prosecutors alleged the shooter dressed in women’s clothing and wore makeup to cover his face tattoos because he feared he would be recognized.
Surveillance video allegedly shows the suspect walking down an alley behind a building at the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Second Street and climbing a fire escape to reach the roof.
Police found 83 shell casings. Paramedics took 52 people to hospitals and five people died at the parade, according to an ambulance report. Two people died later at hospitals.
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Despite his disguise, police officers familiar with the suspect identified him in still images taken from surveillance cameras after the shooting, prosecutors said.
Video shows the shooter running down the alley with a bag over his shoulder, and dropping a rifle wrapped in a cloth, prosecutors said. Police recovered the weapon within minutes and traced it to the suspect, who had purchased it in 2020 when he was 19.
He went to his mother’s nearby home and took off in her car as police launched a manhunt. He drove to Madison, Wisconsin, where he spotted a group of people and thought about shooting them with a second rifle in the car, authorities have said.
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The suspect had about 60 rounds in the car with him, but he apparently felt he hadn’t put enough “thought and research” into opening fire, authorities said.
He turned back, dumped his cellphone in nearby Middleton and was finally spotted Monday evening in North Chicago, about eight hours after the shooting. He was arrested around 5:30 p.m. after a brief car chase.
The victims who died are: Katherine Goldstein, 64; Irina McCarthy, 35; Kevin McCarthy, 37; Jacki Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88, all of Highland Park; Nicolas Toledo, 78, of Morelos, Mexico; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2022. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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