A Safer City
Where the Alleged Highland Park Gunman’s Case Stands 1 Year After Mass Shooting
As Highland Park residents and officials reflect on last year’s Fourth of July parade massacre and remember those lost in the violence, the alleged gunman and his father are each expected to face separate trials in the coming months.
With Tuesday marking the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting that left seven people dead and 48 more wounded, 22-year-old Robert Crimo III remains in custody at Lake County’s jail after being indicted on 117 felony charges — including 21 counts of first-degree murder, which represent three counts for each person killed.
According to Lake County prosecutors, Crimo accessed a business rooftop at the corner of Central Avenue and 2nd Street using a fire escape and began firing on parade-goers at around 10:14 a.m.
He allegedly fired more than 80 shots during the attack from a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle — reloading at least twice — and disguised himself in women’s clothing in order to conceal distinctive face and neck tattoos and blend into the crowd as he made his escape.
Crimo III then drove to Wisconsin, where he considered shooting more people, according to police, before returning to Illinois, where he was arrested later on July 4 following an extensive manhunt.
Prosecutors said Crimo III confessed to investigators after his arrest, telling them he had “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire.”
“It definitely hits a lot harder when it’s not only your hometown but it’s also right in front of you,” resident Ron Tuazon said shortly after the shooting. “It’s commonplace now. We don’t blink anymore. Until laws change, it’s going to be more of the same.”
The seven people killed in the shooting were: 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein of Highland Park; 35-year-old Irina McCarthy and her 37-year-old husband Kevin McCarthy, both of Highland Park; 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim of Highland Park; 88-year-old Stephen Straus of Highland Park; 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza of Morelos, Mexico; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan.
Surviving victims included the McCarthy’s 2-year-old son Aiden, 8-year-old Cooper Roberts — who was left paralyzed from the waist down — and CPS pre-K teacher Zoe Kolpack and her husband.
“Tonight, we mourn for those who were murdered, we mourn for their families, we mourn for their friends, we mourn for their neighbors, and we mourn for our community,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said during a memorial days after the shooting.
“Experiencing gun violence in our community has a lasting impact on us — we are the survivors,” she continued. “It is incumbent upon each and every one of us to honor those taken and those injured with action — whatever that might mean to you and yours.”
In addition to the murder charges, Crimo III also faces 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm for each victim who was struck by a bullet, bullet fragment or piece of shrapnel.
At his most recent hearing in May, his defense attorney Anton Trizna indicated that a trial date in the case could be set as soon as the next scheduled hearing in September.
More than five months after the shooting, Lake County authorities charged Crimo III’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., with seven counts of reckless conduct for allegedly helping his son obtain a Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card.
Prosecutors claim the father took a “reckless and unjustified risk” when he signed his son’s application for a FOID card in December 2019. At the time, Crimo III was only 19 years old and could not legally obtain a FOID card or purchase a firearm without his father’s assistance. After getting his FOID card, Crimo III legally purchased multiple firearms throughout 2020 and 2021.
But Highland Park police had already had two interactions with Crimo III earlier in 2019. One occurred that April after he allegedly attempted suicide, while the second came in September, when Crimo III allegedly threatened family members, saying he was “going to kill everyone.”
“He knew what he knew, and he signed the form anyway,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said during a press conference in December 2022. “This was criminally reckless and a contributing cause to the bodily harm suffered by the victims on July 4.”
Crimo Jr. is due back in court for a hearing later this month at which point his own trial date could be set. Lake County Judge George Strickland has said he intends that trial to begin sometime in late October or early November.
Both Crimo III and his father have pleaded not guilty in their respective cases.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
