The psycho accused of spraying gunfire into a Chicago-area Independence Day parade from a rooftop, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens more, has confessed to the attack and to considering a second shooting later that day, authorities said today.
The suspect, Robert Crimo III, 21, dressed in black as he appeared from jail on a video link, bowed his head for much of the hearing at the Lake County courthouse, where bail was denied on seven first-degree murder charges.
Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon told Judge Theodore Potkonjak that Crimo made “a voluntary statement confessing to his actions.”
Dillon told the court that the suspect confessed to the attack after he was apprehended. There was no plea entered at the hearing. Crimo spoke only briefly to confirm that he did not have a lawyer. A public defender was appointed to represent him.
“He does pose, in fact, a specific and present threat to the community,” the judge said in ordering that the suspect remain in jail.
“He went into details about what he had done. He admitted to what he had done,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart told reporters outside of the county courthouse. “We don’t want to speculate on motives right now.”
After fleeing Highland Park, Crimo went to Madison, Wisconsin, and came upon a Fourth of July event there, said Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force. He briefly thought about unleashing an attack there as well, Covelli said, NBC News reported. Asked what might have stopped him, Covelli said: “Indications are that he hadn’t put enough thought or research into that.”
Authorities said Tuesday that Crimo planned the Highland Park attack for weeks before climbing up to his sniper’s perch from an alley and firing more than 70 rounds randomly into parade spectators before making his getaway dressed in women’s clothing and makeup to cover his facial tattoos.
If convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder, he would face a mandatory life prison sentence without the possibility of parole, Eric Reinhart, the state’s attorney for Lake County, said.
Crimo is to return to court on July 28.
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