The father of the alleged Highland Park killer assured ABC News that he is not guilty of the massacre committed by his son despite having signed a consent form for the young man to get permission to buy firearms.
"I had no inkling, no warning that this was going to happen," Bob Crimo Jr. said, "I'm just shocked."
However, the Illinois authorities could open a criminal investigation for sponsoring the purchase of the weapons, according to ABC News, citing an announcement from the state police.
The news network NBC News assures that, until now, there is no open investigation.
The police went to the young man's house in September 2019 for a notice from a relative who said he was threatening to "kill everyone."
Police then seized
16 knives, a dagger and a sword
, but found no firearms.
"Threats to the family... I think [it was] taken out of context," the man told ABC News, claiming it was a "simple outburst from a child."
His 21-year-old son was charged with seven counts of murder after shooting more than 80 times from a rooftop at the July 4 parade in that Chicago suburb.
[A boy was found alone and bloodied after the Chicago shooting. The police searched for his parents but they were already dead]
Crimo assured The New York Post that he spoke with his son about a shooting in Denmark in which three people died, the night before the massacre.
"He said, 'yeah, that guy is an idiot,'"
he recalled, "people like that [perpetuate mass shootings] to encourage people who want to ban all guns."
Uvalde: The policeman who saw the shooter before the attack was able to prevent the massacre
July 7, 202201:54
[Suspect's YouTube channel showed the parade route and a simulation of the shooting]
Authorities have not opened a criminal investigation of the father, but police said Wednesday that he "may bear responsibility in certain circumstances," NBC News reported.
The suspected killer was still under 21 when he purchased five weapons, including the high-powered rifle allegedly used in Monday's attack.
He was able to do it only because his father sponsored his application for identification of firearms owners.
Illinois police, which issue gun owners' licenses, said the suspect applied for a license in December 2019, when he was 19 years old.
His father endorsed his request.
At the time, "there was insufficient basis to establish a clear danger" and deny the request, state police said in a statement.
Monument honoring the victims in Highland Park on July 6, 2022. Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Asked by NBC News if the suspect's parents might be at criminal risk, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said it's too early to tell.
But according to an affidavit signed by the father, he agreed to be "responsible for any damage resulting from the use of firearms or ammunition by the minor applicant."
“There will probably be civil litigation.
There is an ongoing criminal process and a criminal investigation,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
This is largely because Crimo is an adult, Sean Holihan, the state legislative director of the Giffords Law Center, a gun safety group, told NBC News.
Virginia police foiled another planned 4th of July shooting
July 7, 202200:21
"It's hard to hold parents accountable when someone turns 21, even if they live in the home," said Sean Holihan, an executive with the Giffords Law Center, a gun safety group.
“When someone reaches the age of 21, we have agreed as a nation that they are given all the rights to do whatever they want, except run for federal office and rent a car,” he added.
Parents of those accused of mass shootings are rarely held criminally responsible.
But in December 2021, Michigan prosecutors charged James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of a teenager accused of killing four people in a high school shooting, with involuntary manslaughter.
Legal experts told NBC News there are big differences between the two cases, including the ages of the suspects.
The Michigan high school shooting suspect was 15 at the time, while the Highland Park shooter is 21.
Authorities had seized a collection of knives from the Highland Park shooter in 2019
July 7, 202202:15
Six people died at the scene that Monday and a seventh victim died of injuries later.
More than three dozen people were injured.
Nine of them, aged between 14 and 70, are still hospitalized.
Investigators' spokesman Christopher Covelli said the suspect had been planning the attack for several weeks, and reported that he had fled to his mother's house after the massacre dressed as a woman.
In addition, he thought about committing another massacre later in Madison, Wisconsin, seeing another Fourth of July celebration.
The prosecutor said the suspect faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
