Thursday 7 July 2022 12:33 AM Highland Park shooter left phone in parking lot of Madison auto store where ... trends now

The Highland Park gunman considered a second attack in a neighboring state, it has emerged, but decided against it because he had not done enough research.

Robert Crimo, 21, murdered seven people in the Illinois city during a July 4 parade, shooting at 10:15am from a rooftop along the parade route.

He wore women's clothes to escape in the crowd and returned home to Highwood, asking his mother to borrow her car.

Crimo then drove 140 miles to Wisconsin, where he came across another July 4 event and considered killing more people.

'It appears when he drove to Madison, he was driving around, however, he did see a celebration that was occurring in Madison and he seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting in Madison,' said Deputy Christopher Covelli, with Lake County sheriff's office in Illinois.

Crimo had about 60 rounds of ammunition and a high-powered rifle in his car at the time.

Covelli said his decision to drive to Madison appeared to be spontaneous, and Crimo decided against a second shooting in the Madison area because he did not plan for it, as he had in Highland Park.

'Indications are that he had not put enough thought and research into it,' Covelli said. 

Crimo abandoned his cell phone in the parking lot of Jim's Auto Service Center in the Middleton district of Madison, before driving back south into Illinois, towards his home and the scene of his crime.

He was arrested on Monday evening in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Shon Barnes, the chief of police for Madison, said the revelation that Crimo contemplated attacking his community was 'upsetting'.

'We are deeply troubled to learn the suspected Illinois parade shooter considered carrying out another attack here in Madison,' Barnes said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon.

'We feel for the grieving families in Highland Park and all those forever impacted by the events of Monday's shooting.

'We recognize tragedy very well could have taken place in our own community. That reality is upsetting to all of us here in Madison, including the members of the Madison Police Department.'

Barnes said they were only informed of Crimo's thought about of attacking his city on Wednesday morning.

On Monday afternoon at 5pm, he said, his office was informed by their colleagues in Highland Park that Crimo could be heading their way. They mobilized, only to then be informed he had been arrested at 6:25pm.

The mayor of Madison, Satya Rhodes-Conway, called the news 'deeply disturbing' and called on lawmakers to enact tougher gun control laws.

'Weapons of war have no place in our community,' she said.

'This time the shooter wreaked havoc in Highland Park and drove to Madison. Next time, it could be anywhere.

'On his way here, he drove past hundreds of communities celebrating the Fourth of July. All of us are at risk when weapons of war are on our streets.'

Crimo appeared in court on Wednesday morning charged with multiple counts of murder, as prosecutors shared more details of his rampage. 

He spoke softly to tell the court that he did not have a lawyer, and to ask for a public defender. He was dressed in all-black, wore his long dark hair draped over one eye and shifted on his feet as he appeared via Zoom from a room in the Lake County jail. 

He was denied bond by Judge Theodore S. Potkonjak, and will remain in custody until his next court date on July 25. 

Tom Durkin, the attorney who had been hired to represent him, pulled out due to an unknown, last-minute conflict of interest. Now, Crimo will be represented by a public defender.

During the court appearance, it was revealed; 

Crimo used a legally purchased Smith & Wesson M&P 15 to carry out the attack  He bought the weapon - which costs around $800 - in 2020  Crimo fired 83 rounds in total, reloading his weapon twice before fleeing the roof of the building along the parade route  Police tracked him down by tracing the serial number of the gun to his home; he dropped the weapon while running away from the parade  Once in custody, he made a full confession and told cops he 'looked down, aimed and fired' into the crowd  He said he dressed up 'like a girl' and used make-up to cover his face and neck tattoos 

Police do not yet know exactly what his motive for the killing spree was but on Wednesday they confirmed his fixation on the numbers 47 - the inverse of 7/4, the date of July 4th. 

'His motivation isn't necessarily clear, I don't want to go into specifically what he told investigators, however he had some type of affinity towards the number 4 and 7, and inverse 7 and 4,' said Covelli, after Crimo's court appearance.

Earlier, Crimo's mugshots were made public which show him standing expressionless wearing a black t-shirt, with his dark hair draped over one of his eyes. His cheek and neck tattoos are on full display. 

Meanwhile, his parents' attorney has spoken out in their defense to insist there were 'no red flags' for them to report to police. 

Crimo's father supported his application for a FOID card - the license needed to buy guns - in 2019 when he was 19 and just two months after an incident when police were called to the family home. 

Police confiscated 16 knives after that incident because Crimo had 'threatened to kill everyone'. 

He was not arrested and his family say police gave the knives back two weeks later. 

Crimo's mother and father have not been charged but they have retained a lawyer - Steve Greenberg, a local man who railed against the shooting on Twitter on Monday, before realizing that his friends' son was responsible for it.

 Crimo is being represented by two other attorneys from a different firm.

On Tuesday night, Greenberg appeared on "NewsNation to insist his clients Bob Crimo and Denise Pesina have done nothing wrong, and to deny claims by police that they were called to the family house twice in 2019. 

'I don't think anyone's ever aware of any red flags that make them think that their son is gonna go out in their own community and start shooting people. 

'Had they seen any signs of it, I think they would have acted. They're responsible parents,' Greenberg said. 

Amid intense scrutiny of that decision to help his son buy a gun, the father's attorney said on Tuesday that police 'couldn't have been too concerned' because they returned the knives to Bobby two weeks later.