CHICAGO — A Lake County judge on Wednesday ordered Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, accused of carrying out the rooftop massacre at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade, held without bond on seven counts of first-degree murder.
Calling Crimo a “specific and present threat to the community,” Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered him to remain in jail. Crimo’s next hearing is set for July 28.
Just after the hearing, Lake County Deputy Sheriff Chris Covelli dropped a startling new allegation, telling reporters Crimo happened upon a “celebration” in the Madison, Wisconsin, area after fleeing Highland Park and “seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting.”
Covelli said Crimo decided against it because he had not done enough research. Crimo had a Keltec SUB2000 rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition with him at the time, Covelli said.
Crimo disposed of his phone in Middleton, Wisconsin, a city near Madison, though police have since recovered it, Covelli said.
Covelli said the motive for the Highland Park attack is still murky, though he said Crimo, an aspiring rapper, has an affinity for the numbers four and seven that stems from music he likes (photos show Crimo has “47″ tattooed on his right temple). The shooting happened on the fourth day of the seventh month.
“He felt like this was the day to do the attack,” Covelli said.
Back in court, prosecutor Ben Dillon sketched out the alleged evidence against Crimo, a 21-year-old who grew up in Highland Park.
Crimo was caught on surveillance video before the shooting walking through an alley toward a building at Central Avenue and Second Street, Dillon said. He allegedly used a fire escape attached to the building to access the rooftop.
When the gunfire began at 10:14 a.m., the prosecutor said, a witness saw someone on top of the building scanning the crowd with a gun, along with muzzle flashes.
Dillon said Crimo admitted to police he “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire at people across the street” from his perch.
The prosecutor said police later found 83 spent shell casings and three 30-shot magazines on the rooftop.
Surveillance video captured Crimo running down the alley toward Green Bay Road after the shooting while carrying a black bag over his shoulder, Dillon said. A cloth-wrapped object fell out of the bag and onto the pavement but Crimo allegedly kept going; police discovered the object was a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle, Dillon said.
Police familiar with Crimo identified him from the video and a trace revealed the rifle, purchased at a local gun store in 2020, belonged to him, Dillon said.
Dillon said the video also showed Crimo wearing what appeared to be women’s clothing. Crimo allegedly told police he wore the clothes, along with makeup covering his distinctive tattoos, in a bid to avoid being recognized.
North Chicago police arrested Crimo late Monday afternoon following an hourslong search involving more than 100 law enforcement agencies.
Crimo, watching the Zoom hearing without expression via video link from the Lake County jail, wore a black shirt and sported dark, jaw-length hair. His only comment was to tell Potkonjak he did not have a lawyer.
Private attorney Tom Durkin, who had agreed to represent Crimo, told Potkonjak he had to step aside because of an unspecified conflict of interest in the case. Crimo will be represented by the county public defender going forward.
Victims of the shooting rampage include Highland Park couple Irina and Kevin McCarthy, whose 2-year-old son, Aiden, was found wandering alone amid the chaos; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63; and Stephen Straus, 88, all of Highland Park; and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico.
Another victim was identified Wednesday as Eduardo Uvaldo of Waukegan.
The Cook County medical examiner confirmed Uvaldo, 69, was pronounced dead at 7:47 a.m. Wednesday at Evanston Hospital after being injured by gunfire.
The organizer of an online fundraiser on Uvaldo’s behalf posted Tuesday: “We just received news that there is nothing left to do for our papi. Thank you for all the donations thus far. All further donations will go towards assisting my grandma’s needs when the time comes.”
Nivia Guzman also posted that her grandfather was “a kind, loving and funny man who did not deserve this.”
More than two dozen other people were injured in the attack, authorities said.