Robert Crimo, the one arrested for the shooting this Monday in Highland Park (Illinois, USA) with 6 dead and 30 wounded, he planned the attack for weeks and was disguised as a woman so as not to arouse suspicion, Authorities reported Tuesday.
(You may be interested in: Who is Robert Crimo, the Highland Park shooting suspect?)
The deputy director of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Christopher Covelli, specified that Crimo is 21 years old and not 22 as had been indicated the day before, and that at the moment his motivations are unknown.
“We believe he planned this attack for weeks. He was carrying a high-powered rifle to the parade, accessed the roof of a store through the fire escape and began to open fire. against the innocent people attending the Independence Day celebration,” Covelli told a news conference.
Took a high powered rifle to the parade
He added that the suspect, who acted alone, he dressed as a woman to hide his facial tattoos and his identity.
The authorities have interviewed witnesses and survivors of the event and have reviewed video recordings made with cell phones.
Covelli explained that the alleged shooter, who fired more than 70 times into the crowd, had bought the gun “legally” in Illinois.
(Also: US Independence Day shooting mourns celebrations)
After the shooting, Crimo left the roof from which he was shooting, dropped his rifle and mingled with the crowd as if he were another parade attendee, heading to the house of his mother, who lives nearby.
There he took his mother’s vehicle to escape but was intercepted when trying to flee. Inside that car, police found a second rifle.
A month ago, 19 children and 2 teachers were shot dead by an 18-year-old who broke into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, with a semi-automatic rifle that he had purchased legally.
After that attack and another that occurred in Buffalo (New York), with 10 deaths, the country’s Congress approved in June to increase control over firearms, with a minimum agreement between Democrats and Republicans.
(You can read: Texas and the worst school massacres in the history of the United States)
The suspicious attitudes of the young
It was also known that the suspect had violent videos and messages on social networks, including a staging of a shooting at a school, according to local media reported on Tuesday.
Crimo was arrested Monday night, about eight hours after shooting from a rooftop at participants and spectators of the July 4 parade in this town on the outskirts of Chicago.
According to local media, such as the television network WGN9, the young man was a rapper and posted numerous messages and videos on social networks, including one in which he staged a shooting at a school and another in which he simulated his own death in a confrontation with police.
The young man represented in his videos various forms of murder, and in one of the last ones it shows a decapitation, as reported by NBC. The YouTube video website closed the young man’s page on Monday night.
(Also: Robert Crimo, suspect in shooting near Chicago, arrested)
“We know that many of the videos you posted actually reflected a plan and a desire to commit a massacre.Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said this morning on CNN.
Rotering also lamented that there are “weapons of war” that people can legally buy in the United States to commit crimes like the one that occurred in this town.
(Keep reading: Prisoner asks to delay his execution to donate a kidney: he seeks to save a life)
The media have also released a video of the arrest of Robert Crimo on Monday night, eight hours after this shooting took place in which six people were killed and two dozen were injured.
Among the deceased is a Mexican citizen, Nicolás Toledo, a migrant in the United States for decades who was in Highland Park visiting his family.
The granddaughter of the deceased, Xochil Toledo, explained to the Chicago Sun Times that her father was also injured when he tried to protect his grandfather from the bullets.
*With information from EFE
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