Summary Statement
On Monday, July 4, 2022, at approximately 10:15a.m. CDT, a gunman fired from a rooftop into crowds gathered for a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois killing seven people and injuring 47.
Attack Overview
The morning of July 4th, crowds began to form for the city of Highland Park’s fourth of July Parade. The parade began at approximately 10am at the intersection of Laurel and St. Johns Avenues in Highland Park, IL. Shortly after the start of the parade, at approximately 10:15am, a gunman began to fire at least 70 shots from a neighboring business rooftop. Witnesses describe the shots as “only 10 feet away and lasting for several minutes.” The gunman reportedly gained access to the roof via a ladder attached to the wall of a building near an alleyway.
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Escape
According to Lake County state attorney, "Following the attack, (the gunman) exited the roof, dropped his rifle, and blended in with the crowd and he escaped. He walked to his mother's home, who lived in the area, and he blended right in with everybody else." Further reports indicated that the gunman escaped capture by dressing up as a woman to conceal his identity, and also took measures to conceal his facial tattoos. A rifle was located at the scene.
Suspect
By 5:12pm CDT, police had named 21-year-old Robert Crimo III as a person of interest in the shooting. At 6:30pm, local police located Crimo’s vehicle in North Chicago and officers attempted to stop him. He led police on a brief pursuit before coming to a stop. He was taken into custody "without incident."
Motive
The motive for the attack is still under investigation, though authorities have indicated they have no evidence the shooting was racially or ethnically motivated at this time.
Online/Social Media Activity
Social media firms suspended accounts apparently belonging to Crimo, who posted rap videos under an alias as well as videos depicting shootings, gun violence and other violent themes.
Crimo’s most recent video posted to YouTube showed him in the aftermath of a school shooting. It ends with Crimo draping himself in an American flag. Another music video showed a cartoon depiction of a man wearing a shirt with his YouTube channel logo on it, holding a long gun and being shot by police.
Crimo also posted frequently to a message board that discussed graphic depictions of murder, suicide, and death. His most recent post to that message board came last week when he posted a video of a beheading.
In one clip, Crimo is seen with multicolored hair and face tattoos and is narrating, "I need to just do it. It is my destiny." The video shows a cartoon animation of a stick-figure shooter -- resembling Crimo's appearance -- in tactical gear carrying out an attack with a rifle.
Further Details
At a news conference Tuesday, authorities confirmed that the weapons had been legally obtained and purchased "locally within the region."
Crimo passed four background checks between June 2020 and September 2021 when purchasing firearms, Illinois state police said in a statement. Those background checks went through the Firearms Transaction Inquiry Program (FTIP), which includes the National INstant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), state police added.
Authorities say that the suspect planned the attack for "several weeks" before the parade took place.
According to Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, after fleeing Highland Park, Crimo drove to Madison, Wisconsin, and came upon a Fourth of July event there. Covelli stated he briefly thought about unleashing an attack there as well, but dismissed it as "Indications are that he hadn't put enough thought or research into that."
VFC Shield reminds members this is an ongoing investigation. This assessment is based on information available as of July 6, 2022.
Assessment
- The FBI recently released a report indicating that “active shooter” attacks rose sharply in 2021, increasing 52% compared to 2020, with 61 incidents across 30 states leaving 103 people dead and 140 wounded. The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Implicit in this definition is the shooter’s use of a firearm. The active aspect of the definition inherently implies the ongoing nature of an incident, and thus the potential for the response to affect the outcome.
- The Violence Project, a nonprofit research center notes that 80% of mass shooters were in a noticeable crisis prior to their shooting.
See Something Say Something - A change in thinking
In today's world, suspicious activity reporting (SAR) can not only be limited to terror related activities. In other words, SAR reporting is not only the backpack left near the bus station, but reporting suspicious or concerning interpersonal activities or behaviors that are observed to local law enforcement. These tips are then shared with local behavior threat assessment teams and fusion centers. These professionals are trained to assess threats and behaviors in order to determine if an individual is on the pathway to violence and what mitigation would have the greatest impact to prevent an attack.
Mobilization Indicators
The National Counter Terrorism Center has recently published the 2021 U.S. Violent Extremist Mobilization Indicators booklet. This resource provides 42 observable behaviors that could signal whether individuals or groups are pursuing ideologically-motivated violent extremist activities. These indicators were developed and updated based on a review of information derived from dozens of FBI terrorism investigations, peer reviewed academic studies, and analytic exchanges among Intelligence Community and law enforcement professionals. The indicators of violent extremist mobilization described in this booklet are observable behaviors that could help to determine whether individuals are preparing to engage in violent extremist activities.
Pre-Attack Indicators
While no profile or series of behavior can correctly predict whether or not an individual is on the pathway to violence 100% of the time, the FBI has studied pre-attack indicators of active shooters over the course of thirteen years and has noted several telling statistics.
In this case, certain warning signs were exhibited.
• FBI - Pre-Attack indicators of Mass Shooters - 2000 - 2013 - Fact Sheet
• FBI - Pre-Attack indicators of Mass Shooters - 2000 - 2013 - Full Report
