Highland Park shooter was in a 'downward spiral' — and his family ignored it: report

On Friday, an exclusive from The Daily Beast revealed new details about Robert "Bobby" Crimo Jr., the young man who committed the armed massacre in Highland Park, Illinois — including that people near him reported he was falling into depression for years and attempted suicide, but his family did not act on the signs.

"The mother of two of Crimo’s former skatepark friends said that the accused mass shooter came to her house frequently around 2016 and 2017 and was nothing but quiet and polite," reported Kate Briquelet and Pilar Melendez. "She says at that point, he wasn’t yet cutting a disturbing figure as a wannabe YouTube rapper, with tattoos covering his face and music riddled with violent imagery."

"Meanwhile, one friend of Crimo told The Daily Beast that she reached out to Crimo’s dad on Facebook around 2015 after he 'said some concerning things about wanting to overdose,'" said the report. "The pal claims that instead of responding to her message, his father blocked her. Weeks later, she claims, a mutual friend visited Crimo’s home and again voiced concerns. 'He felt a lot of times that his parents didn’t care about him,' the person added. (Gomez told The Daily Beast that his clients deny any knowledge of suicidal thoughts Crimo might have had that year. 'The mother has expressed to me that, to her knowledge, no one came up to her and expressed concerns. The father is in the same boat,' he said.)"

"In an April 29, 2019, Highland Park Police incident report obtained by The Daily Beast, officers were called to the Crimo home for a well-being check," said the report. "There, officers learned he was 'known to use marijuana' and had a history of suicide attempts. One of those instances, which occurred a week prior to the call, was an 'attempt to commit suicide by machete,' the report states."

Previous reporting indicated that in spite of all of this, and in spite of officers confiscating his weapons on that occasion, his father sponsored him for an Illinois gun permit — and has said he does not regret doing so.

"Civil defense attorney Stephan Blandin told The Daily Beast that it is 'bizarre that the father would sign for an obviously mentally troubled kid' — and noted that he believes the father will face charges for his role in aiding Crimo’s access to firearms," said the report. "'I think this will serve as a chilling effect for parents who are thinking of helping their children obtain firearms,' he added."

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