Highland Park parade shooting
The latest news and coverage on the mass shooting that occurred the morning of July 4, 2022, during the Fourth of July parade in suburban Highland Park.
Robert Crimo III, accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in 2022, had invoked his right to a speedy trial last month after dismissing his lawyers and a jury trial was set for Feb. 26. That date was scrapped in court Wednesday, with Crimo consenting.
Robert Crimo III ditched his lawyers in mid-December and quickly accelerated his case by asking for a speedy trial.
Although the National Rifle Association is not listed as a plaintiff, a spokesperson says it joined the National Sports Shooting Foundation to file the suit, similar to what it did in a New York case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Illinois State Rifle Association lawsuit appears to be the first in federal court to challenge Illinois’ new weapons ban, but it is part of a burgeoning legal effort aimed at undoing the new law. Other lawsuits have been filed in state court.
A suit filed Jan. 13 in southern Illinois marked the beginning of the legal battle to overturn the law Gov. J.B Pritzker called “one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the nation.” Another suit was filed Tuesday by Tom DeVore, a Republican former attorney general candidate.
“We have done this for Highland Park’s Kevin and Irina McCarthy, Jacquelyn Sundheim, Katherine Goldstein, Eduardo Uvaldo, Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza and Stephen Straus. For Benito Juarez High School’s Brandon Perez and Nathan Billegas, just 15 and 14.”
Lawmakers heard audio that began with a high-pitched cry from a child at last year’s Highland Park Fourth of July parade before a 34-20 Senate vote to approve the measure.
After a lengthy debate that stretched into Friday, the House voted 64-43 to pass the measure that would also ban “rapid-fire devices” that turn firearms into fully automatic weapons. It must still clear the Illinois Senate.
He was struck in his spine and left paralyzed below his waist in the Fourth of July parade shooting in which seven people were killed and nearly 50 wounded.
The 8-year-old’s family is trying to raise $2 million to buy or build a house with easy access for his wheelchair.
Robert Crimo Jr. faces 7 felony reckless conduct charges for sponsoring his son Robert Crimo III’s application for a state firearm owner’s identification card.
In 2019, when Robert E. Crimo III was still underage, Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son’s application for a state firearm owner’s identification card. That was “a contributing cause to the bodily harm suffered by the victims on July 4,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Friday.
Survivors and others testified at an Illinois House committee hearing, calling for bipartisan support for an assault weapons ban.
The measure would ban the sale of assault weapons immediately, prevent sales of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds and raise eligibility for a state firearm owner identification card to 21.
The temporary memorial garden was created next to Highland Park city hall as plans for a permanent fixture are put off while survivors of the shooting recover.
$5.8 million in donations distributed to Highland Park parade shooting victims, mental health groups
All donations collected by the Together Highland Park Unidos committee were distributed to victims, their families and 17 local organizations providing mental health services.
Robert Crimo III flashed a peace sign as he left the courtroom.
In the forum hosted by the Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and WTTW, Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Republican challenger Kathy Salvi disagreed on abortion, guns and a host of issues, but both said they support the Chicago Bears moving from Soldier Field to Arlington Heights.
Maxwell Street Klezmer Band tuba player Howard Prager said the concert “was all about bringing peace and joy. And this community needs all the peace and joy it can have after what happened.”
The 8-year-old boy, paralyzed from a bullet on July 4, continues to require rehabilitation.
The gun industry and its allies for too long have helped to spread carnage while ducking responsibility.
Suspect Robert Crimo III “was ready to go to war — just as Smith & Wesson told him he could,” according to suits that accuse the gunmaker of “deceptive and unfair marketing” and also target others, including Crimo’s father.
The rally, organized by “March Fourth,” a group formed after the Highland Park July 4 massacre, included people whose lives were forever changed because of other mass shootings.
Cooper had been rehabilitating at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab after a series of surgeries following injuries from a bullet that severed his spinal cord and badly damaged some internal organs.
“I come here almost every day, in the morning,” Alejo Toledo said Monday, when the two-month anniversary of the attack was remembered at the unofficial memorial.
Democrats hold the advantage in two races for open Illinois Supreme Court seats because last year they redrew the court’s boundaries for the first time in 58 years. The two down-ballot elections hold enormous stakes if the court changes hands — potentially impacting abortion, gun control and union rights laws.
The 8-year-old boy’s brain function is a concern after he experiences memory loss and shows issues with fine motor skills, his family said.