Highland Park Shooter’s Father Under Criminal Investigation for Son’s Firearm Purchase

Robert Crimo III was arrested for allegedly killing seven people during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.

The father of the Highland Park shooter will be criminally investigated, according to The Guardian, for signing off on his son’s firearm license in 2019. On July 4, 2022, his son allegedly murdered seven people and injured at least 40 more.

Robert Crimo Jr., the father of Robert Crimo III, sponsored his son’s firearm license in 2019. In Illinois, gun purchasers must be at least 21 years of age if they do not have the written consent of their parent or legal guardian. Crimo Jr. admitted to signing the affidavit to media outlets before the criminal investigation became public. By signing the document, he agreed to be held liable “for any damages resulting from the minor applicant’s use of firearms or firearm ammunition.”

Crimo Jr. signed the application despite his son having two previous encounters with the police. One of those encounters occurred in September 2019, during which Crimo III allegedly stated that he would “kill everybody” in his family. Law enforcement confiscated 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword from Crimo III’s room that day, but they were returned after Crimo Jr. claimed that the weapons were his and were only stored in his son’s room for “safekeeping.”

When asked if he regretted the decision to sign off on his son’s firearm purchase, Crimo Jr. said he does not. “Had I purchased guns throughout the years and given them to him in my name, that’s a different story. But he went through that whole process himself.” Crimo Jr. also noted that his son purchased firearms himself before the shooting.

Crimo III is currently 22 years old and would not have needed to get his parents’ permission for a firearm license if he applied for one after his 21st birthday.

Crimo Jr. says his son had “good morals” and that the two had talked about the Copenhagen, Denmark, shooting that took place a day earlier. During that conversation, Crimo Jr. says that his son called the Denmark shooter “an idiot.”

Police say that Crimo III told them he had planned another massacre at a Wisconsin Fourth of July parade after he left Highland Park. He instead decided to return to Illinois where he was arrested driving his mother’s vehicle.

This is not the first time the parents of an alleged mass shooter have found themselves in legal trouble. Two parents in Michigan were charged with involuntary manslaughter after their 15-year-old son used a gun they purchased to murder four classmates.

There were 13 mass shootings nationwide over the Fourth of July weekend.