(WBBM NEWSRADO) — The 21-year-old man accused firing on the crowd at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade — killing seven people — has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart announced Tuesday.
Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III will appear in court Wednesday, at which time prosecutors will ask a judge to hold him without bail as he awaits trial. Rinehart said his office will be filing “dozens” of more charges, reflecting the magnitude of the killing spree.
“I want to emphasize that: There will be more charges," Rinehart said.
If convicted of the first round of charges alone, Crimo would face life in prison without possibility of parole, he said.
Authorities say Crimo opened fire on July 4 parade goers around 10 a.m. Monday, fatally wounding six and injuring more than 40 people. A seventh person died Tuesday, officials confirmed.
Crimo is believed to have climbed atop a building and fired at the crowd with an assault rifle before fleeing in a vehicle. He dressed as a woman to blend into the crowds and covered his distinctive tattoos, police have said.
Rinehart used Tuesday’s news conference to call for greater use of Illinois’ “red flag” law and urged passage of a national assault weapons ban, like federal lawmakers put in place in 1994 on a bipartisan basis. It expired in 2004.
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