Trial begins of U.S. Independence Day parade shooter

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a 24-year-old man with a history of mental illness who allegedly opened fire from a rooftop on a U.S. Independence Day parade, killing seven people and wounding 48.

Robert Crimo III, 24, faces murder, attempted murder and dozens of other charges for the July 4, 2022 attack on the parade in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

According to prosecutors, Crimo climbed on to a rooftop overlooking the parade route armed with a semi-automatic rifle and emptied three 30-round magazines into the crowd before fleeing.

Among those killed were the parents of a two-year-old boy.

Crimo was allegedly disguised in women's clothing and had used makeup to conceal several distinctive facial tattoos, including the word "Awake" above his left eyebrow and the number "47" on his temple.

He was captured about eight hours after the attack following a car chase.

Crimo's father, Robert Crimo Jr, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to reckless conduct for helping his son obtain the assault rifle used in the shooting, a rare case in which a parent was held criminally responsible for the actions of their child.

Crimo Jr, who owned a delicatessen in Highland Park and once ran for mayor, pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts for helping his son obtain a state firearms permit even though he knew he had a history of mental illness.

He was sentenced to 60 days in jail, two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.

The younger Crimo was 19 at the time the gun was bought and he needed his father's sponsorship to get an Illinois Firearms Owner Identification Card.

Amid a huge number of deadly firearms incidents involving young people, pressure has been mounting in the United States to punish parents who make it possible for their children to get weapons.

The parents of a 15-year-old boy who killed four people at a high school in Michigan in November 2021 were convicted of involuntary manslaughter last year for buying their son a gun even though they were aware of troubling signs that he might be a threat.

- Erratic behavior -

According to police, Robert Crimo III had a history of erratic behavior.

Police were called to the Crimo home twice in 2019: once in April to investigate a suicide attempt by the younger Crimo and again in September because a relative said he had threatened to "kill everyone" in the family.

Police removed a collection of knives from the home but did not make any arrests. The knives were returned after Crimo's father said they were his.

Located 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Chicago and its notorious crime problems, Highland Park is known as a quiet town. The municipality of 30,000 even enacted a ban on assault rifles in 2013.

The city is also known for being home to some of Chicago's elite: basketball superstar Michael Jordan lived in Highland Park during his years with the NBA's Bulls, in a house worth nearly $15 million.

American architect Frank Lloyd Wright also designed several houses there.

And in the 1980s, Highland Park houses served as the backdrop for iconic films including "Risky Business" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

Crimo's trial, which is expected to last six weeks, is being held at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, Illinois.

He faces a sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted.

cl/sms

© Agence France-Presse